Fed up with hackers intruding into the government computers and stealing data, the Government has decided to go for its own pan-India secure computer network that has no link whatsoever with Internet.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has submitted a Rs 450-crore proposal to the Planning Commission for developing such a network during the 12th five-year plan that takes off in April this year. It envisages the new system for the government use totally separated from the computers connected with Internet for communicating with public.

The proposal says: "A lot of intra-government communication is classified. The security of this communication has to be ensured by an alternative mechanism because neither it is advisable to wait for such a mandating and capacity building nor is it appropriate to rely on the level of security provided by such a scheme as communication would still remain in the open domain of Internet."

It envisages creation of a fixed and wireless communication system for high security of classified government communications on the lines of such an internal private system already developed by the Defence Research and Development Organiastion (DRDO) for connecting its various centres across the country.

The foolproof infrastructure for telecom communication exclusively for the government will ensure those in the government use it for all sorts of communication, including e-mail and telephony that can not be eves-dropped by any outsider, the paper adds. The new network will be developed jointly by NIC (National Informatic Centre) and ERNET run by the Department of Electronics.