Srinagar: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Thursday directed government departments to expedite the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based governance initiatives, saying the technology should be leveraged to improve public service delivery, transparency and administrative efficiency across Jammu and Kashmir.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on AI adoption in governance and the establishment of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence, the Chief Secretary asked departments to work closely with the Information Technology Department for early implementation of identified AI use cases.
The meeting was attended by administrative secretaries, representatives of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jammu, BISAG and other senior officers.
Dulloo said AI should be used as a strategic tool for improving governance and decision-making rather than creating parallel digital systems. He stressed that new AI solutions should integrate seamlessly with the existing digital ecosystem to ensure efficient utilisation of public resources.
He directed departments to nominate nodal officers, wherever required, and ensure timely sharing of quality datasets for the development, testing and validation of AI applications. He said data quality, interoperability and departmental ownership would be critical for successful deployment of AI-based solutions.
The Chief Secretary also called for sector-specific workshops involving departmental nodal officers, technology partners, domain experts and implementation agencies to assess data availability, infrastructure readiness and operational requirements before pilot projects are launched.
He further directed that all AI initiatives be monitored through defined milestones and outcome-based indicators to ensure timely resolution of implementation bottlenecks.
Earlier, Commissioner Secretary, Information Technology, Saurabh Bhagat, gave a presentation on the organisational framework, implementation strategy, progress and future roadmap of the MeitY Centre of Excellence. He also briefed the meeting on the progress of AI use cases identified by the Union Territory Level Steering Committee (UTLSC) and the roadmap for pilot implementation.
The meeting was informed that the MeitY Centre of Excellence at IIT Jammu is expected to become operational by August 2026. Around 10,000 square feet of space has been earmarked for the facility, while infrastructure is being readied for occupancy. Officials said the implementation roadmap and key performance indicators have been finalised in consultation with MeitY, and procurement of high-performance computing infrastructure for the AI Digital Public Infrastructure (AI-DPI) has begun.
The meeting reviewed progress on 20 AI use cases identified across eight priority sectors, including education, skill development, agriculture, power, governance, health, transport and infrastructure, besides emerging sectors such as tribal welfare and security.
Officials informed the meeting that consultations had been held with academic institutions, technology companies, start-ups and research organisations for developing AI solutions tailored to government requirements. Several pilot proposals are currently under technical evaluation.
The review also covered AI-based interventions in foundational literacy and numeracy, multilingual learning platforms, precision agriculture, hyper-local weather forecasting, digital governance, utility demand forecasting, infrastructure health monitoring, urban flood modelling, oral cancer screening and clinical decision support systems, among other public service applications.
The meeting concluded with participating departments and partner institutions committing to expedite implementation of the AI roadmap to strengthen transparent, efficient and citizen-centric governance in Jammu and Kashmir.
