DITEC collaborates with BHASHINI to host state workshop; explores AI use cases to enhance last-mile governance

​Goa Khabar : Reinforcing Goa’s vision of becoming a model state for inclusive, AI-driven governance, the Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications (DITE&C), in collaboration with the Digital India BHASHINI Division, hosted the ‘BHASHINI Rajyam State Engagement Workshop (Goa)’ today in Panaji to identify multilingual AI use cases that can enhance citizen service delivery. The workshop also showcased the progress of the Konkani Large Language Model (LLM) currently under development, alongside demonstrating BHASHINI’s multilingual AI capabilities and practical governance applications.

The inaugural session took place in the presence of the Hon’ble ITE&C Minister, Rohan Khaunte; Kabir Shirgaonkar, Director, DITE&C; Praveen Volvotkar, Managing Director, InfoTech Corporation of Goa Ltd. and Amitabh Nag, Chief Executive Officer, Digital India BHASHINI Division, along with senior officials from departments and the BHASHINI team.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Hon’ble ITE&C Minister, Rohan Khaunte said, “Today, we’re witnessing Goa’s AI vision steadily translate from a roadmap into reality. By collaborating with the BHASHINI Division, we’re ensuring that every Goan, regardless of linguistic barriers, can seamlessly interact with public systems in Konkani. This is about democratising emerging technologies like AI to directly benefit our citizens and build a truly inclusive, future-ready digital economy.”

Highlighting BHASHINI’s role in bridging India’s digital and linguistic divide, Amitabh Nag said, “From enabling a farmer to seek advice in their local language to allowing citizens to fill out government forms simply by speaking into a microphone, the practical applications are immense. As we look to replace open-source reasoning engines with our own indigenous Large Language Models (LLMs), the proactiveness of Goa’s departments in feeding data into these systems will drive the next generation of seamless B2C and e-governance services.”

During the technical sessions, the BHASHINI team introduced senior officials from various government departments and corporations to the platform’s multilingual AI ecosystem and demonstrated how AI-powered translation, transcription and speech technologies can improve citizen-facing services. Officials were also briefed on the National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT), Shabd Udyan (India’s specialised multilingual glossary system) along with BHASHINI’s website plug-in supporting 22 Indian languages, including Konkani, and the official BHASHINI mobile application.

The highlight of the workshop was a live demonstration showing how real-time English speech could be instantly transcribed, translated and spoken back in Konkani. Participants also witnessed demonstrations of AI tools such as Chitraanuvaad, Vaanianuvaad and Lekhaanuvaad, showcasing how multilingual AI can simplify day-to-day governance processes, improve citizen interactions and support more accessible public service delivery.

The workshop also enabled discussions with government departments to identify practical AI use cases that can be piloted across citizen services, supporting the State’s vision of leveraging artificial intelligence to deliver more inclusive, efficient and accessible governance.

The workshop underscored the Government of Goa’s commitment to driving inclusive digital transformation. Through the strategic MoU signed with the Digital India BHASHINI Division, the Department of Information Technology, Electronics & Communications (DITE&C) is developing a Konkani Large Language Model (LLM) in collaboration with the Directorate of Higher Education and the Directorate of Official Language, enabling citizens to interact with government platforms and access public services seamlessly in their local language. The initiative forms an important step in Goa’s broader AI roadmap to make the State a leading testbed for multilingual AI-powered governance solutions.