Author: Shaurya is a third year member at Legal Aid Clinic, NLIU

Rapid rise and widespread accessibility of technological advancements in India has been a boon to the nation. From better digital connectivity due to affordable internet services to development of services like Bharat Interface for Money to facilitate digital payments using the Unified Payments Interface (BHIM/UPI), India has pioneered the micro management and accessibility of such complex infrastructures. Cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurugram, Noida etc. are witnessing a boom in the IT sector providing employment to millions. With multinational companies establishing their offices in Gurugram and Bengaluru, these cities have earned nicknames like “Millennium City” and “Silicon Valley of India”. A Nation with such advancements lacks to recognize the paucity of education and awareness about the misuse of technology amongst the masses. As per the data revealed by the ministry of home affairs, there has been a 206% hike in reported cyber crimes this year wherein approximately Twenty-three thousand crore rupees have been lost. Cyber-crimes like phishing, vishing and smishing are on a surge and target people who are digitally illiterate. Phishing is the act of sending fraudulent e-mail that appears to be from a legitimate source, for example, a bank, a recruiter or a credit card company etc. This is done in an attempt to gain sensitive personal information, bank account details etc. from the victim. While in Vishing and Smishing, telephones and SMS messages are used as a medium of communication respectively.

Digital Literacy

Reports indicate that there is still much to do about the digital literacy of the nation. Digital Literacy is the ability of individuals and communities to understand and use digital technologies for meaningful actions within life situations. Simply it is the ability to access the computer/mobile/internet for our day-to-day activities and being connected with others through the internet. As per a report published by Dattopant Thengadi National Board for Workers Education & Development, Ministry of Labour & Employment, only 38% of Indian households are digitally literate with a stark disparity of 61% in urban areas and 25% in rural areas. Casual workers in the agriculture sector have the lowest level of digital literacy at 13%. Scheduled Tribes have the lowest overall digital literacy at the household level at 21%.
Digital literacy and vulnerabilities in Madhya Pradesh
As per the 2011 Census, Madhya Pradesh has 72.4% of its population residing in rural areas and 21.1% of its population belongs to the tribal community. These people form the most vulnerable and digitally illiterate sections of the society. Hidden malware scam in Jabalpur was reported a few days back wherein residents loose 2 lakh rupees owing to a Whatsapp malware. Even the State’s capital, Bhopal, faces a surge in cyber-crime cases and loses more than 100+ Cr. Standing on 12th position in reporting of cyber-crime, such a crime is reported in every 8 minutes. While such cyber-crimes and frauds are on a rise, the recent UDISE report reveals state’s substandard performance in providing digital access to schools. Madhya Pradesh has only 823 Out of 92,439 schools having access to digital libraries which is, only 0.9% fairly lower than the national average of 6.1%. Owing to such concerning conditions, 70% victims of such crimes in the state’s youth.

Irregularities in Framework

While the new Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (“DPDP Act”) proposes a new and better structured system for prevention of cyber-crimes, there exists a major accessibility and connectivity issue to a major lot of general masses. The DPDP Act proposes a central data protection board (DPB) which would enforce penalties against data breaches.
This system fails to recognize the role states play and their importance while addressing such issues. Digital literacy and cyber-crime rate varies from state to state, a centralized authority wherein there is no state level grievance redressal system cannot essentially cater to the needs of people belonging to lower strata and marginalized sections of our society, which will eventually lead to them being left out and a consequent lower crime reporting rate. The absence of a state level authority results in micro level breaches, which simply leaves people from remote and isolated areas without any efficient remedy. The proposed framework fails to recognize the stark difference in digital literacy amongst different states thus, it is important to have a decentralized approach while addressing such issues that have seeped deep into the society and affects the digitally marginalized societies and people the most. This approach shall have state level boards formed which will be responsible for digital literacy and redressal centers established in every district. All these boards and centers shall be under the supervision of the central data protection board.
Further, there should be more physical centers and digital platforms formed responsible for on ground awareness and improved accessibility resulting in better reporting and redressals in every district to cover even the last mile. Gram sarpanch offices should also be instructed to organize awareness camps for spreading awareness through folk music and nukkad nataks with the help of such district level centers.

Awareness Initiatives by the Government

The government, along with the concerned authorities like the Reserve bank of India, Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has arranged for mandatory pre-call voice messages on certain numbers. These are short advisories in Hindi/English/regional languages that educate callers about the probable cyber-crime. It is used particularly on calls from official bank helplines, Awareness drives during cyber-fraud spikes and Special campaigns during events like “Cyber Jaagrookta Diwas” or “Digital Payment Safety Month”. It acts as an immediate, no-cost awareness for the caller that reinforces key safety phrases like “Never share OTP” and “Bank never asks” in people’s memory. The government has also been promoting the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, which focuses on tackling all the issues related to Cybercrime for the citizens, which includes improving coordination between various Law Enforcement Agencies and the stakeholders, driving change in India’s overall capability to tackle Cybercrime and to improve citizen satisfaction levels through radio and other social media handles.
Airtel, a private telecommunication company has also embarked with one of its kind initiative wherein an AI driven fraud detection system will be used to block malicious websites and other potential cyber crime links. The step has been taken to ensure cyber safety of the millions of telecom users against crimes like phishing, smishing and vishing. To combat issues like digital arrest, the government has ramped up initiatives like the National Cyber-Crime Reporting Portal, an online platform for public cybercrime complaints, a Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting System, a rapid fraud reporting system to save stolen funds, Cyber Forensic Labs that facilities for advanced digital evidence analysis, CyTrain, an online training platform for police and judicial officers on cybercrime and many other public awareness campaigns.

Conclusion and Suggestions

There are many initiatives taken up by the government, statistics and on ground reality reflects that their aim is far from being achieved. Awareness programmes like “beti bachao beti padhao” and “do boond zindagi ke” which can strike the public’s consciousness can help in educating the masses against such crimes. Focusing on development of digital liabraries in schools/colleges will promote digital literacy amongst the youth. The Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (DISHA) or National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM) Scheme which has been formulated to impart IT training to people from all over the nation including Anganwadi and ASHA workers should be encouraged and expanded to accommodate more people. Such initiatives can help in connecting even the last mile and educate the economically, socially and digitally vulnerable sections of our society. The government should launch joint ventures with Legal Aid clinics and NGOs to achieve the aim of better digital literacy and awareness.
With very low crime reporting rate, crippling digital literacy amongst the people and rampant surge in such crimes makes the visionary idea of India being a global leader suffer. A significantly rapid change is direly needed. Empirical data should be collected to monitor, assess and improve digital literacy for every district in order to micro manage the on-ground situations. Districts, regions and states with high digital illiteracy and cyber-crime/cyber fraud cases should be granted special status and shall receive aids in order to overcome and improve their situations. Though, with barely any uniform framework and overlapping and inconsistencies amongst inter-departmental coordination, collection of data becomes a challenge. Bridging the gap between rapid digital advancement and low digital literacy is no longer optional but essential. Only through coordinated, data-driven, and inclusive efforts can India safeguard its citizens against cybercrime and move closer to its vision of becoming a secure global digital leader.