AI Is Not Replacing Bureaucrats—It's Fixing India's Governance Gap: MeitY Secretary

Artificial intelligence (AI) presents India with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve public service delivery, bridge capacity gaps in governance, and make government services more accessible in citizens' own languages, S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the 29th National Conference on e-Governance held in Jaipur,  Krishnan argued that AI should no longer be viewed as a standalone technology but as a foundational layer embedded across every aspect of governance.

"AI as a horizontal technology needs to be part of everything else that we do," Krishnan said, adding that the distinction between AI and digital governance is rapidly disappearing.

AI Can Bridge India's Governance Capacity Gap

Krishnan said India faces a chronic shortage of frontline public service personnel, including doctors, teachers, nurses, judges and police personnel, which makes AI particularly valuable for improving governance.

"We do not have as many policemen as we need. We do not have as many doctors as we need. We do not have as many teachers as we need. We do not have as many nurses as we need. We do not have as many judges as we need," he said, arguing that AI can significantly improve productivity without replacing human decision-making.

"In a way, it is a threat to each one of our jobs. But looked at another way, it's an enabler for each one of us,” Krishnan added. According to him, the government's biggest challenge is not a lack of digital infrastructure but insufficient administrative capacity, making AI an important productivity tool for officials.

Governance Must Speak the People's Language

Krishnan also argued that AI can democratise governance by eliminating language barriers that often prevent citizens from accessing public services.

He noted that governance has historically functioned in the language of administrative elites rather than the language spoken by ordinary citizens.

"An official language really needs to be the language of the people. It needs to be Lok Bhasha and not necessarily Raj Bhasha (Ruler’s language)."

He said advances in speech-to-speech translation, speech recognition and multilingual AI models could allow citizens to file grievances, interact with government departments and access justice in their native languages.

Citing platforms such as Bhashini and AI-enabled grievance redressal systems, Krishnan said voice-based interfaces could remove the need for intermediaries who traditionally helped citizens prepare written petition.

Governance Must Speak the People's Language

Krishnan also argued that AI can democratise governance by eliminating language barriers that often prevent citizens from accessing public services.

He noted that governance has historically functioned in the language of administrative elites rather than the language spoken by ordinary citizens.

"An official language really needs to be the language of the people. It needs to be Lok Bhasha and not necessarily Raj Bhasha (Ruler’s language)."

He said advances in speech-to-speech translation, speech recognition and multilingual AI models could allow citizens to file grievances, interact with government departments and access justice in their native languages.

Citing platforms such as Bhashini and AI-enabled grievance redressal systems, Krishnan said voice-based interfaces could remove the need for intermediaries who traditionally helped citizens prepare written petitions.