State govt to use AI in daily admin work

The AI-powered platform will help identify duplicate beneficiaries across government welfare schemes

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its daily administrative work via a platform built specifically for the state. ‘Maha AI’ (Maharashtra Hub for Advanced Artificial Intelligence), built by the National Informatics Centre, will assist in official correspondence, drafting notes and reports, translation of government documents and document summarisation, among other things.

State govt to use AI in daily admin work

Significantly, the AI-powered platform will help identify duplicate beneficiaries across government welfare schemes. This is important as the state’s flagship scheme — Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana — has been plagued by ineligible beneficiaries.

Launched ahead of the 2024 assembly elections, the scheme aims to provide women from low-income backgrounds with monthly financial assistance of ₹1,500 through direct benefit transfer. Across nearly two years, the government has deleted around 8 million ineligible or unverified applicants from the scheme’s list of beneficiaries, paring the number to 16.6 million.

Officials believe Maha AI will significantly reduce the time and effort required for such large-scale verification exercises and help clamp down on fraudulent claims.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the Maha AI platform will play a crucial role in modernising the state administration and making governance more effective. However, he clarified, “All sensitive government information will remain under the government’s direct control, with data storage and processing taking place entirely within the state government’s secure infrastructure.”