In a move towards enhancing the accessibility and efficiency of parliamentary proceedings, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Lok Sabha Secretariat have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop ‘Sansad Bhashini,’ an AI-powered language solution for Parliament.
According to an official statement, the initiative aims to introduce comprehensive in-house artificial intelligence tools within the Parliament to improve multilingual support and streamline legislative operations. The project will utilize parliamentary data and resources to develop AI-driven solutions, while the government’s existing AI-powered language translation platform, Bhashini, will contribute its expertise in translation technologies.
Key Features of Sansad Bhashini:
- AI-enabled translation of parliamentary debate records, agenda files, and committee meeting documents into various regional languages.
- An interactive AI chatbot designed to assist Lok Sabha members and officials in retrieving essential procedural rules and documents.
- Speech-to-text conversion of live parliamentary debates with real-time transcription and speech-to-speech translation in Indian languages.
Highlighting the significance of the initiative, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla stated that Sansad Bhashini will facilitate the seamless functioning of parliamentary affairs while making legislative debates more accessible. “This initiative will enable Members of Parliament, researchers, and academicians to conveniently access translated parliamentary proceedings in multiple languages,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The deployment of AI-driven multilingual capabilities is expected to foster greater inclusivity in parliamentary discussions, allowing legislators from diverse linguistic backgrounds to participate more effectively. The government aims to leverage this technological advancement to enhance transparency, accessibility, and efficiency in legislative work.
