Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Transport, Youth Services & Sports and Information Technology, Satish Sharma, today said that the BHASHINI Rajyam workshop marks a major step towards building an inclusive, citizen-centric digital ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was addressing the BHASHINI Rajyam workshop (Jammu & Kashmir Chapter), organised by the Information Technology Department in collaboration with the Digital India BHASHINI Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), at the Convention Centre, Jammu.
Highlighting the importance of linguistic inclusion in digital governance, Satish Sharma said that technology must empower every citizen irrespective of language, literacy level or geographical location. He stated that BHASHINI represents the true spirit of Digital India by enabling AI-driven multilingual solutions across governance, education, startups and entrepreneurship.
“It is a matter of great pride for Jammu and Kashmir to host the BHASHINI Rajyam Workshop, a forward looking initiative that places inclusion at the core of technological transformation,” the Minister said.
The Minister said that under the visionary leadership of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the government of Jammu and Kashmir is committed towards ensuring that digital services remain accessible, inclusive and citizen-centric. He added that adoption of BHASHINI will significantly enhance service delivery while creating new opportunities for local developers, researchers and startups working in Indian language technologies.
The Minister congratulated the Information Technology Department and the Digital India BHASHINI team for organising the workshop. He expressed confidence that the initiative would accelerate multilingual digital transformation in the Union Territory.
“Let us work together to ensure that language never becomes a barrier, but a path towards opportunity and empowerment,” the Minister said.
The Minister assured full support of the J&K government to the BHASHINI mission, including piloting innovative use cases, sharing language datasets and promoting multilingual digital governance across departments.
Secretary Information Technology Department, Dr. Piyush Singla highlighted the increasing importance of information technology in day-to-day governance. He emphasized that digital platforms are playing a crucial role in improving transparency, efficiency and citizen engagement across departments.
Chief Executive Officer, BHASHINI Rajyam, Amitabh Garg delivered a detailed presentation. He gave a brief overview of the BHASHINI programme, its architecture, key components and practical use cases. He elaborated on the applications of multilingual AI tools in governance, education, public service delivery and entrepreneurship, underlining their significance in bridging the language divide.
Chief Executive Officer, JAKEGA, Mahima Madan was also present on the occasion.
During the workshop, technical sessions were held on BHASHINI Udyat, ARPAN services and the National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT), along with live demonstrations of translation, transcription, speech-to-text, video translation and language model APIs. Sessions also showcased BHASHINI-powered applications, inter-ministerial use cases, startup engagement initiatives and upcoming hackathons aimed at promoting innovation among youth.
The event witnessed participation of senior government officers, technology experts, developers, startups, academicians and students from across Jammu and Kashmir.