Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Nov 28 : In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh stated that 96 Group-A officers have been retired prematurely on account of doubtful integrity or non-performance/ ineffectiveness by the Modi Government and reiterated that under the prescribed Rules of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), Government has an absolute right to do so in public interest.
Till date, as on 21st November 2019, Fundamental Rule 56(j) had been invoked against 96 such officers in different Ministries and Departments in the Government of India, he added.
Responding to the issue of reported cyber attack on Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, raised in the Rajya Sabha in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Jitendra Singh sought to allay all apprehensions saying, “India’s Nuclear Plants follow the mantra of “Safety First – Production Next” and, therefore, he wished to assure all the members of the Upper House that there was no basis about the apparent threat perception to any of the Nuclear Plants.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the report in a section of media was based on a malware infection that was noticed in the Administrative Network, which dealt with day-to-day administrative activities, and was in no way connected with the external networks such as intranet or internet. In other words, he said, the network of the Nuclear Plant was totally secured and unaffected by any such situation.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, in addition to several technical measures and controls for data protection from any possible cyber threat, the Department of Atomic Energy has also started a practice of having quarterly security audit of the cyber infrastructures. This audit is carried out by “Computer and Internet Security Advisory Group” (CISAG) through a team of experts. At the same time, for the websites on the internet in the Nuclear Plant, there is also a provision for third party audit, he added.
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