The government will soon frame and notify rules for data protection and liabilities of service providers under the Information Technology Act.
The rules will come in respect of key sections viz. 43A (Data Protection), 70A (Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure), 70B (Agency to handle Cyber Security), 79 (Liabilities of Service Providers) relating to cyber security in the Information Technology Act, Kapil Sibal, the Union minister of communications and information technology, said.
A national facility for assessing quality of biometric devices for Unique Identification applications will be set up, apart from infrastructure at Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad for testing of large area photo voltaic modules, he said.
The Department of Information Technology (DIT) will also prepare three manuals for skill enhancement in the area of cyber forensic, besides drafting a consultation paper for policy on rolling out mobile governance and the Electronic Service Delivery Bill as part of the 100-day agenda.
DIT is also working out modalities on attracting investment in semiconductor units and promoting innovation and intellectual property rights. A pilot scheme for providing digital literacy to women, especially in rural areas, will also be introduced during this period.
Talking about the plans for the Department of Posts (DoP) over the next 100 days, Sibal said DoP would introduce a prepaid credit card in association with leading banks — IDBI, HSBC and ICICI Bank — to rural people, which will facilitate non-cash transactions for purchasing products and services.
The card will come with pre-determined amount in rupees and could be operated at merchant locations, ATMs and designated post offices, subject to approval by the Reserve Bank of India.
DoP will also finalise the vendors for information technology solutions, which include customer interaction management, mail operations, banking, postal life insurance, enterprise-wide human resource management, among others. The project is phased over the financial years 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.