Digital India: We need to develop our own servers and cyber infrastructure, says Home Minister

Pitching for a strong cyber infrastructure in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday stressed that India should work towards developing its own servers. Addressing students of the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (JIIT) during a convocation ceremony in Noida, the home minister said: “As the home minister of the country, I don’t have control on many of the cyber-crimes here as the server is located elsewhere.” “In order to check growing cyber-crime, we must develop cyber-infrastructure,” he emphasised. Echoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for building I-ways (information highways), the minister said: “We need highways, roads, but we also need I-ways in our country.” “Our neighbour China has shown us how we can challenge Google by developing its own operating systems,” he added. Talking about the ongoing Digital India Week launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 1, the home minister said: “Our government is not only promoting digital governance but I am confident that India will soon reinforce its digital dominance in the world.” Urging the students to use education in a constructive manner, Singh said: “Education while used in a constructive way is always beneficial to society but when abused it may prove dangerous.” Referring to new manifestations of terrorism, he pointed out that all militants are not illiterate. “Some of them (militants) are highly qualified and technically sophisticated. This is a clear example of how technology can be abused for creating trouble in society,” the minister said. IANS