Chandigarh, July 10- The Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communication (DITECH), Citizen Resources Information Department (CRID), Government of Haryana, in collaboration with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, successfully organised the State Consultative Workshop on “Strengthening Cyber Security Frameworks for State Data” at Hyatt Centric, Chandigarh.
The workshop was chaired by Director, Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication (DITECH), Sh. Samwartak Singh Khangwal, who underscored the importance of building a resilient, collaborative and future-ready cyber security ecosystem to safeguard Government digital infrastructure and citizen data.
This workshop traces directly to a call given by the Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi at the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries, for structured, ministry-led dialogue between the Union and the States on matters of shared governance concern. The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, has initiated a nationwide consultative process following the Prime Minister’s call for regular dialogue between the Union and the States on key governance issues.
With the aim of strengthening cyber security and enabling digital governance in the State, Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Nayab Singh Saini, in the Budget Speech 2026-27, has already proposed to establish the Haryana Digital Kavach, which will ensure 24×7 threat intelligence, incident response, mandatory security standards, and regular security audits for all departments.
Today’s discussions during the state consultative workshop help shape Haryana’s recommendations and contribute to the national framework on cyber security.
The workshop brought together senior officers from State Government Departments, Boards and Corporations, along with experts from MeitY, National e-Governance Division (NeGD), SEMT, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Haryana Police, the Power Department and leading cyber security professionals from the private sector. The event served as a common platform for deliberations on emerging cyber threats, cyber resilience, data governance and strengthening institutional cyber security across the State.
Sh. Samwartak Singh Khangwal, emphasised that cyber security must become an integral component of governance and service delivery. He called for stronger inter-departmental coordination, adoption of emerging technologies, continuous capacity building, and proactive cyber resilience measures to ensure secure, trusted and citizen-centric digital governance in Haryana.
The inaugural session commenced with a welcome address by DITECH/CRID, followed by a presentation from MeitY on the National Cyber Security Framework and Government cyber security directives. The session emphasized that protecting Government information assets and citizen data is a shared responsibility of all departments and requires coordinated governance across the State administration.
The technical sessions covered a broad spectrum of contemporary cyber security themes. Expert presentations included National Cyber Security Frameworks and Directives, Cyber Security in the Power Sector, Cyber Crime Prevention and Response, Haryana Digital Kavach, Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Framework, Cyber Security Standards and Compliance, National Cyber Threat Landscape and CERT-In Advisory Framework, and Artificial Intelligence and Secure Web & IT Infrastructure.
A major highlight of the workshop was the interactive breakout sessions, where participants deliberated on six strategic themes: Risk-based Assessments and Security Monitoring, State Data Centre (SDC) and SWAN Security, Security Operations Centre (SOC) and State CSIRT, Legacy Modernisation, Secure-by-Design and Zero Trust Architecture, Data Classification and implementation of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, Appointment of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Capacity Building, Skilling and Cyber Security Awareness.
The breakout sessions witnessed active participation from officers representing various Government departments, who shared their existing cyber security practices, implementation challenges, best practices and innovative approaches. The discussions generated practical recommendations aimed at strengthening cyber resilience, improving cyber governance, enhancing institutional preparedness and promoting uniform adoption of cyber security standards across the State.
During the plenary session, each thematic group presented its findings, highlighting current maturity levels, key challenges, priority recommendations, and areas requiring support from national agencies, including MeitY, CERT-In, NeGD, and NIC. The recommendations emerging from the workshop are expected to contribute significantly towards strengthening Haryana’s cyber security framework while also providing valuable inputs for the evolving National Cyber Security Framework.
The workshop concluded with a collective commitment from all participating departments to further strengthen cyber security governance through enhanced collaboration, knowledge sharing, adoption of best practices and continuous capacity building. The Government of Haryana reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with national agencies and all stakeholders to build a secure, resilient and citizen-centric digital ecosystem, ensuring the protection of the government information infrastructure and citizen data across the State.
Director IT, Sh. Samwartak Singh Khangwal, Superintendent of Police, Cyber Haryana, Sh. Mayank Gupta, Head, SeMT & Chief Technology Officer, Sh. Nitin Bansal, Chief Engineer (P&M-cum-IT), HVPNL, Sh. Ravi Sher Singh, Practice Head, Digital Infrastructure & Cyber Security, Sh. Samrat Kishor, among other senior Officers from Central and State Governments, remained present during the workshop.
