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By Dr. A. R. Khan

A River of Change: Just as the great rivers of India—the Ganga and the Yamuna—have shaped civilizations, a new current is transforming the nation: the digital revolution, powered by Artificial Intelligence (Al).

This is not just a technological shift; it is a profound loktantra (democratic) and sarvajan hitay (for the welfare of all) movement aimed at making governance transparent, efficient, and inclusive. For aspirants of the UPSC Civil Service Examination and for every citizen witnessing this change, understanding this synergy of Al and digital governance is crucial to comprehending the future of India. Just as the Chakra on our national flag represents forward motion and progress, represents forward motions and progress, India’s embrace of AI represents a similar national momentum.

A Glimpse into the Past: Al's Quiet Beginning in India

The history of Al in India isn't a new phenomenon. Its roots can be traced back to the early days of computer science research. I remember my own early brush with this digital wave. As a student at the Delhi School of Economics during 1985-87, I saw a computer center being set up just opposite the Ratan Tata Library. For the first time, all students were allocated 15 hours, mostly to familiarize themselves with the system. It was a tangible sign of a coming paradigm shift (a fundamental change in approach) in how information would be accessed and used.

Building on that foundational moment, in 1986, the first major government-backed push came with the Knowledge-Based Computer Systems (KBCS) project, a collaboration between academia and the Department of Electronics. This project was a foundational step, though the pace of development remained slow. The real inflection point was the turn of the millennium, fueled by India's IT revolution. Companies like TCS and Infosys started exploring Al for business process automation. The launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015 and the subsequent #AlforAll strategy marked a public, top-down approach, officially ushering in the era of Al-driven digital governance.

The Government's Digital Vision and Goals

India's digital journey is guided by a clear and ambitious vision: to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge-based economy. This vision is encapsulated in a series of landmark programs, each a pillar supporting the edifice of a new, digitally-forward India.

The Digital India Programme, launched in 2015, serves as the cornerstone. Its goals are threefold:

1. Digital Infrastructure as a Core Utility: Ensuring high-speed internet connectivity is available to all citizens.
2. Governance and Services on Demand: Making government services accessible electronically to bridge the gap between the state and its people.
3. Digital Empowerment of Citizens: Promoting digital literacy and universal digital identity to foster an inclusive society.

Building on this foundation, the government has explicitly articulated its focus on Al through the released by NITI Aayog in 2018. This strategy, also known as #AlforAll, is not about Al for economic gain alone, but for "social and inclusive growth." It aims to position India as a global Al hub by focusing on five key sectors with high social impact: healthcare, agriculture,education, smart cities, and transport.

The most recent and significant push is the IndiaAl Mission, approved in March 2024 with a substantial budget of over ^10,300 crore. This mission is a strategic initiative to create a robust and inclusive Al ecosystem across seven pillars: computing infrastructure, foundational models, application development, startup financing, future skills, and safe Al. This is a clear signal of the government's commitment to building indigenous Al capabilities that are not just in India, but also Made for India.

Government Programmes: The Engines of Change

Several government initiatives have already begun to integrate Al to improve already begun to integrate AI to improve service delivery and governance.

1. Aadhaar –Enabled Biometric Authentication: While not strictly AI, this systems provides the foundational digital identify upon which many AI-driven services are built. It allows for secure, instantaneous authentication for services like accessing government subsidies or opening bank accounts.
2. UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for new-age Governance): This app uses AI to provide a single platform for accessing over 1000 government services. AI-Powered chatbots on the platform can answer citizen queries, reducing the needs for manual intervention and making governance more responsive.
3. e-Nam (e-National Agriculture Market): This pan-India electronic trading portal for farm produce uses Al and machine learning algorithms to provide farmers with real-time price information, helping them get fair prices for their crops and reducing the role of middlemen.
4. MyGov.in: The citizen engagement platform uses Al to analyze public feedback and sentiments on government policies, allowing for more data-driven and responsive policy-making.
5. Al for Social Good: NITI Aayog has been working on various pilot projects. One notable example is the use of Al to predict crop yields and provide weather advisories to farmers, significantly enhancing agricultural productivity.

The Impact Generated So Far: Beyond the Headlines

The impact of these initiatives is not just theoretical; it is tangible and transformative.

1. Economic Impact: A PwC report estimates that Al could add a staggering $957 billion to India's economy by 2035. Its productivity-enhancing capabilities are evident in sectors from manufacturing, where robotics and automation are optimizing production lines, to the IT sector, where Al reinforces India's global tech hub status. The rapid growth of Indian Al startups is a testament to this, with the ecosystem attracting significant investment and innovation.
2. Social Impact: Al is making a significant dent in solving some of India's most persistent problems.
   1. Healthcare: Al-driven diagnostics are helping address the shortage of doctors in rural areas. Platforms can analyze medical images for early detection of diseases like cancer, making quality healthcare more accessible. The loncology.ai platform developed by AIIMS Delhi is a prime example.
   2. Agriculture: From using satellite imagery to detect crop diseases to providing real-time soil health advisories via apps, Al is helping farmers make data-driven decisions. The Saagu Baagu Project in Telangana, which uses chatbots to advise farmers, is a chatbots to advise farmers, is a notable example.
   3. Education: The DIKSHA platform, India's national digital infrastructure for school education, uses Al to personalize learning and track student progress, moving a step closer to the ideal of tailored education for every student.

A Look Ahead: Al's Impact on the Future of Economy and Society

The effects of Al are poised to ripple through every sector of India's economy and society. The synergy (the combination of elements creating a greater effect than the sum of their parts) between Al and government programs is just beginning to unfold.

1. Employment and Skills: While there are concerns about job displacement in routine tasks, Al is also creating new job roles. According to a Linkedln report, 50% of India's fastest-growing roles today didn't exist a decade ago. The focus for India is on reskilling its vast workforce to fill these new roles, a critical objective of the IndiaAl FutureSkills
2. Financial Inclusion: Al is making financial services more accessible to the unbanked. Al algorithms analyze alternative data to assess creditworthiness, enabling micro-loans and other financial products for millions who previously had no access to formal banking.
3. Public Services and Security: Al will be increasingly used to improve urban planning, manaqe traffic, and planning, manage traffic, and enhance public security through predictive policing. In fighting digital fraud and misinformation, Al tools are becoming crucial for law enforcement.
4. Rural-Urban Divide: One of the greatest promises of Al in India is its potential to bridge the rural-urban divide. By using Al in vernacular languages and on simple mobile devices, services from banking to healthcare and education can reach the remotest corners of the country, upholding the true spirit of Antyodaya (uplifting the poorest).

This digital transformation is India's new yatra (journey). It is a quest to build a society where technology is not a master but a servant, where it empowers every citizen to realize their full potential, and but a servant, where it empowers every citizen to realize their full potential, and where governance is not just a duty but a seamless, empathetic and inclusive service for all. This approach, with its focus on AI for All,” echoes the philosophical principles of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), extending the benefits of the powerful technology not just to the privileged few, but to all of humanity.