Panaji: Official gazettes, information on various government schemes, digital portals of departments etc will now be accessible in Konkani language, which has been included in Digital India’s Bhashini division.
The inclusion is part of the Union government’s digital governance ecosystem wherein languages are being translated in all states; Konkani is among the 22 Indian languages which are part of Bhashini app.
By downloading the Bhashini AI-powered app, people can benefit from automatic speech recognition, text-to text translation, text- to speech, optical character recognition and name recognition between Konkani and other languages including foreign languages.
“The app solves a major problem of shortage of Konkani translators faced in the state,” IT Minister Rohan Khaunte said on Friday.
“There are not enough Konkani translators. Official language translators are difficult to come by as most of them are more proficient in Marathi than in Konkani,” he said, explaining the difficulties faced by the IT Department in empanelling Konkani translators for converting English gazettes into Konkani.
The minister spoke at the Bhashini Rajyam State Engagement Workshop organised for different government departments.
He urged government officials to understand AI language capabilities and utilise them effectively.
“Technology must serve everyone. It is not simply enough to build infrastructure. AI accessibility must reach the last mile,” the minister reckoned.
He pointed out that Konkani Large Language Model (LLM) has democratised emerging technologies for languages, culture and roots.
Speaking in the presence of IT director Kabir Shirgaonkar, Infotech Corporation of Goa managing director Praveen Volvotkar, Digital India Bhashini division, chief executive officer Amitabh Nag, Khaunte said the state AI policy 2026 is in the making that will establish an ethical framework for inclusive AI adoption across sectors such as e-governance, tourism, industry, among others.
The policy is likely to be announced at the AI Summit expected to be held in September this year.
The IT Department signed an MoU with the Bhashini division so that Goans can seamlessly interact with the public system in their own language, he said.
The state’s AI ecosystem presently comprises a 24×7 assistance chatbot and AI labs in schools and colleges. Under the Goa AI Mission 2027, the state is working towards setting up an AI Centre of Excellence to nurture AI startups.
