Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started a new directive in order to prevent the leakage of all sensitive information regarding important policy matters and decisions.

He has ordered all his cabinet ministers not to carry any smartphones and other mobile phones to Cabinet meetings. The government also fears that there is a possibility of the devices being hacked.

This rule has not only been started in India, but the Britain government has also banned the usage of all mobile phones at the Cabinet meetings.

In a big initiative, this will be the first time that the Indian government has decided to take such a huge step.

In this regard, the Cabinet Secretariat issued a circular (that is in this newspaper’s possession) stating: “It has been decided that smartphones/mobile phones henceforth will not be permitted inside meeting venues of Cabinet/Cabinet committees."

This circular was sent to all the private secretaries of all  the ministers. The secretaries were directed to brief their ministers “appropriately”.

The directive came soon after heightened threats of data theft came after Indian Army conducted surgical strikes across the LoC on terror launch pads located there.

Highly-placed sources said "the decision by the Prime Minister’s Office appears to have been driven by recent security inputs indicating smartphones could be used for recording, and prone to hacking by external agencies. The intelligence and security agencies also warned that Pakistani or Chinese hackers could target ministers and officials."

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BY M. DIVYA SRI