CHAKSHU (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Internal Security)

Context: The government introduced the Chakshu portal as part of the Sanchar Sathi initiative, allowing users to report suspicious activities such as fraudulent calls, messages regarding lottery or job offers, and potential leaks of phone numbers by businesses.

Chakshu

• About: It is a new platform by the Department of Telecommunications, simplifies reporting on fraud calls and messages and facilitates real-time intelligence-sharing among stakeholders.
• Fraudulent Communication: Indian citizens can report fraudulent communication, whether received through calls, SMS, or social media platforms like WhatsApp, using Chakshu. 

oThe platform triggers re-verification, leading to disconnection if failed.

• Addressing Impersonation and Fraud Instances: Chakshu acts as an information exchange among telecom companies, law enforcement agencies, banks, financial institutions, social media platforms, and identity document issuing authorities to counter instances of criminals impersonating officials.
• Tracking Misuse of Telecom Resources: The platform includes information on cases detected as the misuse of telecom resources, enhancing the ability to combat fraudulent activities.
• Grievance Redressal: A grievance redressal platform will be created for reporting inadvertent disconnections and establishing a mechanism to retrieve frozen funds.

oChakshu will serve as a backend repository for citizen-initiated requests on the Sanchar Saathi platform.

• Integration with Sanchar Saathi: Chakshu will integrate with Sanchar Saathi, a platform launched for tracking lost mobile phones and reporting identity theft. 

oSanchar Saathi has already helped trace over 700,000 mobile phones and detect 6.7 million suspicious communication attempts, resulting in savings of ₹1,000 crore for individuals.