VIJAYAWADA: Director General of Police D Gautam Sawang has underlined the need to promote awareness to ensure safety and security of people in the cyberspace. Speaking at the valedictory of month-long awareness programme E-Rakshabandhan on Monday, the DGP said women and children are more vulnerable to bullying in the cyberspace. Hence, the reach of E-Rakshabandhan need to be further extended, he said.
Reiterating that community policing is the top priority of the Police Department, he listed out various initiatives launched by it to reach out to people and maintain law and order in the State effectively. “Programmes like these help promote awareness among women, children and other vulnerable people and keep them safe and secure in the cyberspace.
More than one million viewers are benefitted by this programme. A survey conducted by APCID and Cyber Peace Organisation, which elicited the views of more than 2.28 lakh people, has helped the Police Department take stock of the situation,” said Sawang.
APCID chief PV Sunil kumar said E-Rakshabandhan created awareness among people on how to prevent and report cyber crimes. “Several distinguished persons participated in the awareness programme, which conducted 19 webinars in the month. There is a need to reach out to more people spreading the message to curb cyber crimes effectively,” he said.
Table tennis player Naina Jaiswal and woman cricketer Ravi Kalpana attended the programme as chief guests, while actress Samantha Akkineni participated in the session online and lauded the Andhra Pradesh government and the State police for their initiative in conducting the awareness programme to curb cyber crimes. “With the growing internet usage, there is a threat to people, especially women, from cyber criminals. Gone are the days when women remained calm and cried in dark. Women are empowered now to protect themselves from cyberbullying,” said Samantha.