New Delhi, April 6, 2026:
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has underlined a clear policy priority to embed artificial intelligence at the core of governance functions, with Secretary Rachna Shah stressing the need for robust data safeguards, ethical deployment, and large-scale capacity building across government systems.
Speaking at a collective discussion on “AI in Public Governance” organised under Mission Karmayogi’s National Learning Week (Sadhana Week 2026), Shah highlighted the existing and proposed use of AI across key administrative functions, ranging from drafting recruitment rules and grievance redressal to employee service delivery.
She pointed to a growing suite of AI-enabled solutions already being integrated into governance workflows, including automated salary processing, anomaly detection in reimbursement claims, chatbot-led grievance handling, and instant note generation.
Shah also noted that tools such as AI Medha, Bhashini, and AI Coach have already begun to be deployed in government systems.
She said the larger objective of adopting AI is to improve accuracy, transparency, uniformity, and cost efficiency in administration, while cautioning that these gains must be backed by privacy protection, ethical safeguards, and strong cybersecurity protocols, especially given the sensitive nature of government data.
A major emphasis of her address was on capacity building through AI courses on the iGOT platform, aimed at ensuring that officials are equipped to use emerging technologies in an effective and responsible manner.
Providing an expert perspective, AI specialist Dr. Preet Deep Singh discussed the practical use cases and associated risks of deploying AI in governance, with special focus on the responsible handling of confidential data.
He demonstrated how AI can be embedded across multiple workflows, while flagging serious concerns around data leakage risks on external platforms, reinforcing the need for secure, controlled environments for official government use.
Meanwhile, Joint Secretary (Training) Chhavi Bhardwaj outlined DoPT’s structured AI strategy across three key pillars—capacity building, data-driven decision support, and workforce management.
She said AI is already helping dramatically reduce the time and cost required to develop training content on the iGOT platform, bringing down production cycles from several months to nearly one week, while also lowering costs significantly.
Looking ahead, Bhardwaj said future efforts will focus on highly personalised learning pathways and competency-based assessments, alongside using AI for performance evaluation analytics, cadre management optimisation, and intelligent decision-support systems.
