Digital records of UP Assembly car passes lost

VIRUS : Digital records of UP Assembly car passes lost

The Hindu

14 December 2008

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200812141080.htm

New Delhi (PTI): Records of gate passes issued to vehicles entering the Uttar Pradesh Assembly premises were lost following a virus attack in the computer system, posing a serious security threat.

All digital records of details pertaining to gate passes allotted to vehicles for the year 2007 were deleted following a virus infestation in the computer, Public Information Commissioner Harish Kumar Verma said in reply to an RTI filed by Urvashi Sharma, a Lucknow resident.

Uttar Pradesh has 404 members in the Legislative Assembly and 100 in the Legislative Council.

"If the secretariat is not aware of the vehicles which were allotted the gate passes, any car or motorcycle can make it to the premises of the building with just the UP Government label. And seeing to the recent terror attacks in Mumbai and the Parliament attack in 2001, it is an open invitation to militants," Sharma said.

She further said, "Usually there are a lot of Ambassador cars with red beacons making it to the UP secretariat premises. Security guards only see the car from outside, but the people inside are not checked. Only the red light and the UP government label are checked by the guards at the gates."

The car, which was used by terrorists to enter Parliament in 2001, had a red beacon on top and a Parliament sticker along with a special Parliament label, Sharma added.