Facts for UPSC Mains
AI in Public Service Delivery
- 06 Aug 2025
- 7 min read
Why in News?
India’s first Artificial intelligence (AI) powered Anganwadi was launched in Waddhamna village, Nagpur district, Maharashtra.
- This pilot project is being hailed as a major leap in bridging the rural-urban digital divide in early childhood education, marking a significant advancement in public service delivery.
How can AI Aid in Public Service Delivery?
- Early Child Care: Maharashtra's AI-enabled Anganwadi integrates with the Poshan Tracker to monitor children's nutrition and health in real time.
- Anganwadi workers upload meal photos for instant dietary analysis, enabling predictive alerts on malnutrition risks.
- AI integration facilitates targeted delivery of supplementary nutrition under Integrated Child Development Scheme.
- Children now learn through virtual reality (VR) experiences, interactive stories, and drawing on smart boards.
- Smarter and Inclusive Governance: AI is helping the government move from a one-size-fits-all approach to tailored, real-time service delivery.
- BharatGen, a government-funded multimodal AI model, aims to enhance public service delivery in language, speech, and computer vision, catering to India's diverse population.
- At Mahakumbh 2025, AI tools were used to manage railway passenger flow, optimize crowd dispersal, and power multilingual chatbots, setting a global benchmark in tech-driven mass event management.
- Efficient and Targeted Welfare Delivery: AI models trained on high-quality anonymised datasets (via the IndiaAI Dataset Platform) can analyse patterns in poverty, health, education, etc.
- This helps policymakers identify gaps, predict needs, and deliver targeted benefits.
- Accessibility: Tools like Digital India BHASHINI, Sarvam-1 break language barriers, making services available in multiple Indian languages, and enhancing inclusivity for differently-abled individuals.
- Law Enforcement: AI enables predictive policing, real-time surveillance, and cyber threat detection.
- Delhi Police uses an AI-driven Facial Recognition System (FRS) to solve crimes and find missing persons.
- AI accelerates case research, aids in drafting judgments, and helps reduce backlogs, improving justice delivery and legal efficiency.
- For example, SUPACE (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court's Efficiency) helps judges with legal research.
- Optimizing Agriculture and Ensuring Food Security: Project Farm Vibes, developed by Microsoft Research and the Agricultural Development Trust, Baramati, is transforming farming with data-driven insights.
- It uses AI tools to analyze field conditions, optimize irrigation, and provide real-time, localized farming recommendations.
- The project has led to a 40% increase in crop production, reduced water and fertilizer usage, and minimized post-harvest wastage.
- The AI in agriculture market is projected to grow from USD 1.7 billion in 2023 to USD 4.7 billion by 2028, boosting economic sustainability in farming.
- It uses AI tools to analyze field conditions, optimize irrigation, and provide real-time, localized farming recommendations.
- Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Monitoring: AI models support flood prediction, air quality tracking, and climate modelling.
- Platforms like Google DeepMind’s GenCast enable citizens to contribute localized weather data, improving real-time predictions.
- Mission Mausam, which aims to make India “Weather Ready” and “Climate Smart,” uses AI and satellite data from the Indian Meteorological Department and flood monitoring systems to improve disaster preparedness and flood forecasting.
- The Mausam App delivers weather updates and warnings in a user-friendly format.
- Education and Personalized Learning: AI-powered EdTech enables adaptive learning based on student needs. AI integration being explored in the government's Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) platform.
- In Tripura, IAS officer Chandni Chandran launched an AI-based initiative to tackle a 70% school dropout rate. Students’ career dreams were turned into AI-generated images and displayed on "Aspirational Boards" in classrooms.
- The move has boosted motivation and emotional engagement, with plans to expand it to more schools.
- In Tripura, IAS officer Chandni Chandran launched an AI-based initiative to tackle a 70% school dropout rate. Students’ career dreams were turned into AI-generated images and displayed on "Aspirational Boards" in classrooms.
- Strengthening Urban Governance and Smart Cities: AI improves traffic flow, waste management, and public service delivery.Bengaluru’s AI-driven Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) cuts congestion at junctions.
- Improving Financial Governance and Taxation: AI helps detect fraud, prevent subsidy leakages, and automate auditing.
- MuleHunter.ai, developed by RBI, detects mule accounts used in financial scams.
- Better Healthcare: Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in AI for healthcare are developing solutions like disease prediction, which will holistically benefit the health of rural and urban populations across the country.
Conclusion
AI’s integration into India’s public service delivery enhances efficiency, inclusivity, and accessibility, improving governance. Through initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission, India is advancing towards a more transparent, citizen-centric system, positioning itself as a global leader in AI-powered governance.
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Drishti Mains Question: How is Artificial Intelligence reshaping public service delivery in India? Illustrate with examples. |
UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Mains
Q. e-governance, as a critical tool of governance, has ushered in effectiveness, transparency and accountability in governments. What inadequacies hamper the enhancement of these features? (2023)
Q. E-Governance is not only about utilization of the power of new technology, but also much about critical importance of the ‘use value’ of information Explain. (2018)
