Karnataka will explore using Bhashini AI, a language technology platform, to make government services more accessible through local languages, dialects, voice technologies and translation tools, Information Technology, Biotechnology and E-Governance Minister Priyank Kharge said at a workshop in Bengaluru on October 8.
The workshop, organised by the Department of E-Governance at Vidhana Soudha for government officials, focused on applying artificial intelligence and language technologies to simplify digital governance. The proposed use of Bhashini is intended to make citizen-facing services more user-friendly and inclusive, particularly across Karnataka’s varied linguistic and cultural contexts.
“Karnataka is one state, but it is many worlds. Our language, dialects and cultural contexts vary significantly across regions. If technology is to truly make governance more accessible, it must speak to citizens in a language they understand,” Mr. Kharge said at the event.
He said the State could use Bhashini to support more than 700 citizen services delivered through Praja Seva and e-Governance platforms. The minister framed the initiative as a shift in responsibility from citizens adapting to digital systems to technology adapting to the people using it.
“Bhashini gives us an opportunity to use AI, voice, and translation technologies to bridge this gap. We should leverage it to make our 700-plus citizen services under Praja Seva and e-Governance simpler, more intuitive, and more accessible,” Mr. Kharge said.
The announcement places language access at the centre of Karnataka’s digital-service expansion. While the workshop was held in Bengaluru, the proposed applications are intended for services delivered across the State, where differences in language and dialect can affect how residents understand procedures, instructions and government information. The supplied announcement did not specify which services would be included first, when deployment would begin or whether a pilot programme had been approved.
Mr. Kharge also highlighted the opportunity for Karnataka’s startup ecosystem to develop public-sector applications using language and voice technologies. He referred to the recently introduced ‘Government First Policy’ for startups and invited the Bhashini team to showcase the technology at the Bengaluru Tech Summit.
The minister said the technology could be expanded across Government-to-Citizen services and used to address public-sector challenges. However, the announcement did not provide details on procurement, funding, data governance, service-level targets, language coverage or the institutional responsibilities for implementation.
“Ultimately, AI must be measured by the difference it makes to people’s lives,” Mr. Kharge said. The State’s next steps will determine how the proposed language tools are tested and integrated into its existing Praja Seva and e-Governance services.
