ICT Minister Inaugurates BHASHINI Rajyam Workshop, Calls For Digital Empowerment

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Posted in Featured, Mizoram, Northeast
NET Web Desk

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in collaboration with the ICT Department, Government of Mizoram, organized the BHASHINI Rajyam Workshop: Mizoram Chapter at the ATI Auditorium, MINECO, Aizawl today. ICT Minister Dr. Vanlalthlana graced the inaugural programme of the workshop as Chief Guest.

The workshop marked a significant milestone in bringing Mizoram’s rich linguistic heritage into India’s digital ecosystem, aligning with BHASHINI’s mission to remove language barriers and make digital platforms accessible to all citizens in their mother tongue. Mizoram is home to diverse languages including Mizo (Lushai), Hmar, Lai (Pawi), Mara, Chakma, Paite, Bru, and Ralte. As part of the ongoing MoU signed on 18th June 2025 between the Government of Mizoram and DIBD, BHASHINI will systematically collect data in these languages through community participation, citizen contributions, and institutional collaborations. The outcome will be AI-based language models, speech recognition systems, and multilingual applications, tailored for the people of Mizoram.

Speaking at the event, the ICT Minister welcomed the introduction of the BHASHINI app and the possibilities this digital inclusivity can bring to various sections of Mizo society. He emphasized the importance of harnessing the transformative power of AI tools and called upon attendees to fully make use of the workshop—to be ‘digital warriors’.

Amit Sharma, Secretary of ICT Department, Government of Mizoram, also spoke on the occasion, emphasizing the tremendous leap in digital development Mizoram will make when the problem of language barriers is removed by the BHASHINI app.

Amitabh Nag, Chief Executive Officer, Digital India BHASHINI Division, gave a presentation on the app, development history, benefits, and the way forward.

The event brought together senior policymakers, technologists, academia, and civil society. Key sessions highlighted include:

• Demonstrations of BHASHINI’s suite of tools for multilingual governance.
• Introduction of the Mitra Program (MITRA) – a collaborative framework for state participation.
• Launch of Bhashini Samudaye – envisioning State Language Missions for localized adoption.
• Launch of Mizo Language Hackathon – creating new datasets and AI models in Mizoram’s official language.
• A live demonstration of Bhashadaan, encouraging citizens to donate voice and text data to enrich Mizoram’s AI language resources.

The workshop also facilitated department-specific roadmap discussions for adopting BHASHINI’s technologies in Mizoram. Capacity-building sessions equipped state officials and technical teams to integrate AI tools into their workflows, ensuring improved service delivery, inclusivity, and efficiency.

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