Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai

Mumbai, May 28: Maharashtra’s proposed cybersecurity policy remains unimplemented even nearly one-and-a-half years after the state government announced plans to introduce a dedicated framework to strengthen digital security infrastructure.

State IT Minister Ashish Shelar had constituted a cybersecurity task force in January 2025 as part of the Mahayuti government’s 100-day action plan to draft the policy. However, sources and task force members said the panel has now been disbanded and the proposed policy has effectively been put on hold.

Members of the task force, which included industry experts, corporate leaders and academics, reportedly said that no meetings had been held for several months and that the government had not consulted them after they submitted their recommendations.

At the time of announcing the initiative, Shelar had described the proposed policy as a priority for the state government.

“Cyber Surakshit Maharashtra is our Mission! Maharashtra takes first step to develop Cybersecurity Policy,” Shelar had stated in a post on X while announcing the formation of the Cybersecurity Policy Task Force 2025.

He had said the policy aimed to secure and protect Maharashtra’s IT and digital infrastructure in view of the rapid growth of the digital economy, expansion of online government services and rising cybercrime incidents.

According to the minister, the proposed Maharashtra Cybersecurity Policy 2025 was expected to be aligned with the guiding principles of India’s National Cybersecurity Policy 2013 and National Cybersecurity Strategy 2020.

The task force was initially formed under the leadership of then IT department principal secretary Parag Jain Nainutia. However, he was replaced in October 2025 by IAS officer Virendra Singh, who currently serves as secretary for the IT department.

Sources said no major progress has been made on the policy following the administrative change.

When contacted, Shelar reportedly said that the department would finalise the cybersecurity policy “in the next step” after completing work on the state’s Artificial Intelligence policy.

“Cybersecurity policy will be rolled out soon. The task force has made a wonderful contribution, and I have instructed the IT secretary to take feedback from their efforts and contribution soon,” he said.

Shelar further stated that the proposed policy seeks to help Maharashtra build a robust cybersecurity ecosystem involving citizens, academia, industry, start-ups and government agencies.

He added that the policy also aims to strengthen the protection of government and semi-government IT infrastructure while promoting growth of the cybersecurity sector through skill development, innovation, research and collaboration between government, industry and academic institutions.