Krishnan emphasized that language inclusion is not merely a matter of cultural pride—it is crucial for ensuring that everyday benefits from government services
As cybercrime and digital fraud continue to rise, ensuring that digital services are available in people's regional or preferred languages is crucial to preventing foul play on the internet, S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said on March 28.
“At its core, cybercrime often operates as a confidence trick—manipulating users into vulnerabilities. By making the internet more accessible in regional languages, we can better protect a wider cross-section of society”, added MeitY Secretary.
As India advances multiple initiatives to drive digitalization, Krishnan emphasized that language inclusion is not merely a matter of cultural pride—it is crucial for ensuring that everyday benefits reach a much wider audience, particularly those who are not comfortable with English.
“Even those fluent in English struggle with the dense legal jargon in website terms and conditions. Now, consider the challenge faced by those who do not understand English at all. Yet, as digital-first solutions expand due to their cost-effectiveness and broader reach, it becomes critical to instill confidence in users”, he added.
“While this openness fosters connectivity and innovation, it is equally important to preserve our local identity—ensuring that indigenous languages and cultures are not overshadowed,” according to Secretary.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, the ministry is inviting proposals for a foundational model designed to cater to the Indian context and be available in regional languages.
Secretary MeitY mentioned the role of initiatives like Bhasini that is empowering the t-based coregional language speakers by providing them the services in their preferred language.
“However, the future lies in voice-based interactions, which will offer even greater ease of use for people across diverse linguistic backgrounds. Moving in this direction will further empower users and strengthen India's role in shaping global internet governance,” Krishnan added.
MeitY Secretary was speaking on Universal Acceptance Day organised by NIXI, ICANN and UNESCO, under the leadership of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. It is a to drive collaborative efforts for an inclusive and multilingual internet in India.
Universal Acceptance means building a technical environment to allow computing devices, operating systems, browsers, social media or e-commerce to accept instructions in local language other than English and ensure valid domain names and email addresses, regardless of script, language or character length.
India which is known for its diverse linguistic identity has a key role to expand the idea of inclusivity in the digital sphere for its large internet user base. As of March 2024, out of a total Internet Subscribers of 954.40 million in India, there are 398.35 million Rural Internet Subscribers.
India has set a target of becoming a USD 1 trillion digital economy soon and it is important for the country to widen the cover of digital inclusion with UA.
Achieving it can ensure every Indian has the ability to experience the full social and economic power of the internet by choosing domain name and email address in any language that best aligns with their interests, business, culture, language, and script.