Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir | 28, September 2026:The Director, Indian Institute of Technology Jammu (IIT Jammu) and team from Institute Incubation and Innovation Council (I3C)-IIT Jammu Dr. Yogesh Nimdeo (PIC IBD, I3C), Dr. Lakhvinder Singh (COO, I3C) and Mr. Sheikh Inayat Ullah (CEO RRF), on 21 September 2026 launched the Social Media Influencer Programme, a strategic component of the ongoing Cyber Awareness-cum-Hygiene Campaign being led by I3C across all 20 districts of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. The program is conducted at a large scale bringing together government departments, educational institutions, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organisations and digital creators to strengthen cyber safety and awareness across the Union Territory. The Social media Influencer Programme, Phase-II of the program, will engage social media influencers, digital creators, and youth to take credible, accessible, and actionable messages on cyber fraud prevention, cyber hygiene, and safe digital practices to a wider public, particularly children, adolescents, and young people.
The Cyber Campaign is being implemented in collaboration with the CyberPeace Foundation and Reform and Rehabilitation Foundation (RRF), with support from Google.org. The campaign is facilitated by the Office of the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor, Jammu & Kashmir, with support from Divisional Commissioners and District Development Commissioners across all 20 districts of the Union Territory. The initiative is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Digital India Mission, Cyber Surakshit Bharat Initiative and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and seeks to contribute to the development of a digitally aware, responsible and resilient citizenry.
The programme brings together key government departments and institutions, including Directorate of Samagra Shiksha, J&K Govt, Directorate of Skill Development, J&K, (Polytechnics and ITIs), Directorate of Rural Development, Mission Director, Mission Vatsalya, J&K, Mission Director, Mission Shakti, Mission Director, Mission Poshan, Jammu & Kashmir; Director, J&K SCERT, universities, colleges, and schools including middle, high and higher secondary schools across the UT of J&K.The participating departments and institutions have designated nodal officers to ensure effective coordination and implementation across the Union Territory.
The initiative has also received support from the law-enforcement ecosystem across Jammu & Kashmir, including IGPs of both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, SSPs across all 20 districts, SHOs, JK4C.
The Social Media Influencer Programme has been conceived as a strategic extension of the wider campaign, recognising the growing role of digital platforms in shaping public awareness and behaviour. The programme seeks to take cyber-safety messages beyond institutional settings and into the everyday digital spaces where citizens consume information.
The programme will be open to social media influencers, content creators and youth from across Jammu & Kashmir.
Applicants will undergo a screening process, following which selected participants will receive structured orientation on key cyber-safety themes, including cyber frauds, preventive measures, cyber hygiene, online safety, responsible use of social media, protection of personal information and emerging cyber threats. Participants will subsequently develop awareness content based on the programme’s thematic guidelines. The content will undergo technical review and approval by I3C prior to dissemination through the creators’ respective digital platforms. The programme will offer a cash prize of ₹50,000 to the top-performing participant, based on the prescribed evaluation criteria, along with formal recognition from I3C for their contribution to the cyber-awareness campaign.
The social media influencer initiative builds upon the wider campaign’s ongoing capacity-building and public-awareness interventions. As of September 2026, more than 25,000 individuals have been trained in cyber safety and hygiene, while over 380,000 individuals have been reached through cyber-awareness activities across Jammu & Kashmir by I3C-IIT Jammu in collaboration with various departments and agencies of J&K Govt. This program further expands this outreach by establishing a digital communication channel for disseminating technically validated and actionable cybersecurity information to wider audiences.
Speaking at the launch, Prof Manoj Singh Gaur, Director, IIT Jammu, said, “Cyber resilience requires a whole-of-society approach in which technology, institutions and communities work together to reduce digital vulnerabilities. The Social Media Influencer Programme will strengthen the public-awareness dimension of our cybersecurity efforts by enabling credible and actionable information to reach citizens through the digital platforms they use every day.”
The programme is an intervention at scale led by IIT Jammu through I3C in Jammu & Kashmir, with the objective of spreading Cyber threat awareness across the UT. Through the Cyber Awareness-cum-Hygiene Campaign and the Social Media Influencer Programme, I3C and its partners reaffirm their commitment to building a safer, more informed and digitally resilient Jammu & Kashmir through institutional capacity building, technology-enabled public awareness and community participation.
