Emphasising the global dominance of English-centric AI systems, Prof. Mitesh Khapre, IIT Madras, Head of AI4Bharat, underlined the importance of ensuring that Indian languages are not left behind in the global AI ecosystem.
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 6 January 2026: Day 2 of the Human Capital Working Group Meeting, organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the IndiaAI Mission in collaboration with the Government of Assam and IIT Guwahati, concluded today with focused deliberations on practical implementation pathways for language access, the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM), AI-enabled education, and the BHASHINI platform.
The day commenced with a session on “The Architecture of the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM)”. Prof. Mitesh Khapre, IIT Madras, Head of AI4Bharat, traced the evolution of the initiative over the past four years, highlighting its objective of building foundational AI and language technologies for India’s linguistic diversity. He noted that the mission prioritises the 22 constitutionally recognised Indian languages, which together cover nearly 99% of the population, striking a balance between inclusivity and feasibility. Emphasising the global dominance of English-centric AI systems, he underlined the importance of ensuring that Indian languages are not left behind in the global AI ecosystem.
Prof. Rohit Sinha, Department of Electrical Engineering and Centre for Linguistic Science and Technology, IIT Guwahati, delivered an address on “North East Language Technology Development and NLTM”. He highlighted the region’s unique linguistic landscape, noting that the Northeast is home to nearly 200 languages despite accounting for only 3–4% of India’s population. He underscored the Centre’s role in supporting government-led language technology missions through regionally grounded data collection, native-speaker annotation, and the development of machine translation, OCR, automatic speech recognition, and text-to-speech systems. By focusing on low-resource and non-scheduled languages such as Assamese and Mizo, the Centre is helping bridge critical data gaps while enabling access to education, governance, and digital services.
Ms. Jyotismita Devi, Engagement Manager – Northeast India, Digital India BHASHINI Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, presented an overview of the BHASHINI initiative and its mission. She discussed BHASHINI’s vision of voice-first, inclusive language technologies that enable citizens to interact with digital systems in their native languages, irrespective of literacy levels or internet proficiency. Emphasising language as a core component of identity, she highlighted how speech-based AI can simplify access to government services, education, and public platforms, from voice-enabled form-filling to real-time translation across websites and mobile applications. Through an open, centralised platform offering APIs, datasets, and quality standards, BHASHINI supports low-resource languages, empowers researchers and students, and is already being deployed for use cases such as digitisation of legacy records.
The final session of the day focused on “The Reverse Engineering Approach to AI Education” and was led by Prof. Amit Awekar, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Guwahati. Addressing students in the audience, he introduced the core concept of reverse engineering and outlined new paradigms for preparing future AI talent by embedding problem-solving, curiosity, and system-level thinking early in the education pipeline. The session emphasised moving beyond surface-level tool usage towards a deeper understanding of AI system architecture, modular design, documentation, debugging, and ethical deployment. Prof. Awekar highlighted reverse engineering as a pedagogical approach to fostering critical thinking, creativity, and real-world problem-solving skills among students and early-career professionals.
Dr. Sanasam Ranbir Singh, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Head, Centre for Linguistic Science and Technology, IIT Guwahati, delivered the concluding remarks. He thanked the dignitaries, government officials from the Central and Assam Governments, academicians, and students for their active participation and for contributing to the success of the Human Capital Working Group Meeting.
Across sessions, speakers underscored the need to align education and skilling systems with real-world AI deployment environments, ensuring that learners are equipped not only to use AI tools but also to design, evaluate, and govern them responsibly. Emphasis was placed on interdisciplinary foundations spanning data, algorithms, infrastructure, and ethics, in line with India’s ambition to build a globally competitive and socially grounded AI workforce.
The Human Capital Working Group Meeting in Guwahati marks an important regional milestone and a precursor to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled to be held in New Delhi from 15–20 February 2026. Insights and recommendations emerging from the Working Group are expected to inform national and global discussions at the Summit, reinforcing India’s commitment to building an inclusive, resilient, and future-ready human capital ecosystem for the AI era.
