Information about women covered under Stree Suraksha was leaked from CMO Chennithala
Kochi: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Friday accused the Chief Minister’s Office of leaking the personal details of over 10 million people in Kerala, including lakhs of women registered under the Stree Suraksha Scheme, to a private agency for election-related purposes. The senior Congress leader’s new allegation comes two days after he claimed that the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the CMO had sought the personal details of government employees and pensioners to send messages about the state government’s achievements.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Chennithala described it as a serious case of “data theft” where personal details of women, government employees, and officials, including the general public, were allegedly leaked to a private organization “without taking any precautions” under the Stree Suraksha Scheme.
He alleged, “This was done for election purposes.”
He further said that the same OSD at the CMO had issued a letter on February 7 seeking personal details of women under the scheme. This has never happened in the state’s history. The Congress leader said, “This is a serious data protection violation.”
He further said that the CM’s access to such details is akin to the CPI(M) having access to them, as there is no difference between the government and the party.
Chennithala claimed that personal details were allegedly given to a private organization in Mumbai because the government was unable to handle such a large amount of data.
He claimed, “A thorough investigation is needed because the leak of such details could lead to cybercrimes. The government is creating a situation that could lead to cyber fraud.”
On Wednesday, Chennithala had described the collection of personal details of government employees, officials, and pensioners as a “huge political controversy” and a “major violation of data privacy.”
