News & Announcement
Sikkim signs MoU with BHASHINI Division to promote Multilingual Digital Services
Gangtok, August 19 (IPR): The Government of Sikkim and the Digital India BHASHINI Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote multilingual digital governance and make government services more accessible to citizens in their own languages.
The MoU was signed during a one day BHASHINI Rajyam State Engagement Workshop organised jointly by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim, and the Digital India BHASHINI Division at a local hotel in Gangtok.
The workshop focused on promoting multilingual digital technologies and strengthening the adoption of Indian language technologies in governance, citizen services, research and innovation.
The inaugural session was attended by Chairman, Department of IT, Mr Navraj Gurung, as Chief Guest along with Secretary, Department of IT, Mr Bimal Rai; Principal Director, Department of IT, Mr T Samdup; CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, MeitY, Mr Amitabh Nag; and Director, Department of IT, Mr Prem Vijay Basnet.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Navraj Gurung described the initiative as an important opportunity for Sikkim to become part of India’s wider digital transformation while preserving and promoting its linguistic identity. He said a truly digital India should be one where technology can communicate with people in their own languages rather than requiring citizens to adapt to the language of technology. He particularly highlighted the potential of the initiative to benefit people in rural and remote areas who may face difficulties accessing government services because of language barriers.
He also called upon the youth to contribute to the preservation and strengthening of Sikkim’s languages alongside technological advancement.
Secretary, Department of IT, Mr Bimal Rai, said language remained an important gap in ensuring truly accessible digital governance despite the State’s steady efforts to bring government services closer to citizens through digital platforms and simplified processes.
He said the State Government’s partnership with BHASHINI would initially consider Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha for integration under the platform. Through the MoU, the State Government would work with the BHASHINI team towards making official communications, forms and, eventually, public services available in languages spoken by the people of Sikkim.
Calling for a coordinated approach across departments,
the Secretary urged departments dealing directly with citizens, including Health, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development and Urban Development, to actively participate in the initiative and make relevant information available in languages understood by the people.
He described the MoU as an important commitment to the citizens of Sikkim, affirming that their own language has a place in their own government.
CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, MeitY, Mr Amitabh Nag, highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence and language technology in ensuring that language does not become a barrier to accessing digital opportunities.
Demonstrating the capabilities of the BHASHINI platform, he delivered his address in English while using the BHASHINI application to provide a live translation in Nepali. He said the demonstration offered participants an opportunity to experience the platform’s capabilities and identify challenges and possibilities for further improvement.
He highlighted Sikkim’s strengths in tourism, organic farming, pharmaceuticals, clean energy and culture, and said emerging opportunities in artificial intelligence could further expand the State’s potential.
He stressed that farmers should be able to access knowledge without having to know English, tourists should be able to explore Sikkim without language barriers, and citizens should be able to communicate with the government in their own languages.
He also encouraged startups and innovators in Sikkim not merely to use BHASHINI but to develop solutions using the platform, while communities could contribute towards strengthening language models.
Director, Department of IT, Mr Prem Vijay Basnet, said the workshop had been in the works for nearly a year and that the signing of the MoU marked an important milestone, while emphasising that the real work would begin with its implementation on the ground.
He said the State would initially adopt a gradual approach, focusing on a limited number of services and languages, with Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha being considered initially. A dedicated team from the Department of IT would work closely with BHASHINI experts and undertake training and capacity-building of officials to facilitate adoption of the technology.
He also stressed the importance of maintaining the quality and accuracy of translations, particularly given the sensitivity of local languages. He said services would be tested with real users before being rolled out and continuously improved based on feedback.
Earlier Principal Director, Department of IT, Mr T Samdup, in his welcome address, highlighted Sikkim’s rich linguistic diversity and said the partnership with BHASHINI would help bridge the language gap in accessing government services, particularly for people in rural and remote areas.
He said the initiative would enable government portals, forms and e-services to be made available in local languages, strengthening the State’s commitment to inclusive and citizen-centric digital governance.
The technical sessions provided an overview of the BHASHINI Udyat initiative, including the National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT), its architecture, services, APIs and integration capabilities. Participants were also introduced to ARPAN, the service layer of BHASHINI, covering applications related to translation, transcription, speech-to-speech and video translation.
The workshop also featured sessions on BHASHINI App Mitra, BHASHINI Mitra and BHASHINI Pravakta, covering applications and use cases in education, banking, governance and entrepreneurship, as well as opportunities for hackathons, innovation, research and startup engagement. Discussions also focused on strengthening regional language adoption and citizen participation in language datasets.
The programme concluded with an open discussion on potential use cases and a low-hanging fruit approach to identifying practical areas of adoption, followed by a vote of thanks by Joint Director, Department of IT, Mr Ashim Tamang.
Officials from various departments of the Government of Sikkim, along with language experts from the Education Department, attended the workshop.
The MoU was signed during a one day BHASHINI Rajyam State Engagement Workshop organised jointly by the Department of Information Technology, Government of Sikkim, and the Digital India BHASHINI Division at a local hotel in Gangtok.
The workshop focused on promoting multilingual digital technologies and strengthening the adoption of Indian language technologies in governance, citizen services, research and innovation.
The inaugural session was attended by Chairman, Department of IT, Mr Navraj Gurung, as Chief Guest along with Secretary, Department of IT, Mr Bimal Rai; Principal Director, Department of IT, Mr T Samdup; CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, MeitY, Mr Amitabh Nag; and Director, Department of IT, Mr Prem Vijay Basnet.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Navraj Gurung described the initiative as an important opportunity for Sikkim to become part of India’s wider digital transformation while preserving and promoting its linguistic identity. He said a truly digital India should be one where technology can communicate with people in their own languages rather than requiring citizens to adapt to the language of technology. He particularly highlighted the potential of the initiative to benefit people in rural and remote areas who may face difficulties accessing government services because of language barriers.
He also called upon the youth to contribute to the preservation and strengthening of Sikkim’s languages alongside technological advancement.
Secretary, Department of IT, Mr Bimal Rai, said language remained an important gap in ensuring truly accessible digital governance despite the State’s steady efforts to bring government services closer to citizens through digital platforms and simplified processes.
He said the State Government’s partnership with BHASHINI would initially consider Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha for integration under the platform. Through the MoU, the State Government would work with the BHASHINI team towards making official communications, forms and, eventually, public services available in languages spoken by the people of Sikkim.
Calling for a coordinated approach across departments,
the Secretary urged departments dealing directly with citizens, including Health, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development and Urban Development, to actively participate in the initiative and make relevant information available in languages understood by the people.
He described the MoU as an important commitment to the citizens of Sikkim, affirming that their own language has a place in their own government.
CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, MeitY, Mr Amitabh Nag, highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence and language technology in ensuring that language does not become a barrier to accessing digital opportunities.
Demonstrating the capabilities of the BHASHINI platform, he delivered his address in English while using the BHASHINI application to provide a live translation in Nepali. He said the demonstration offered participants an opportunity to experience the platform’s capabilities and identify challenges and possibilities for further improvement.
He highlighted Sikkim’s strengths in tourism, organic farming, pharmaceuticals, clean energy and culture, and said emerging opportunities in artificial intelligence could further expand the State’s potential.
He stressed that farmers should be able to access knowledge without having to know English, tourists should be able to explore Sikkim without language barriers, and citizens should be able to communicate with the government in their own languages.
He also encouraged startups and innovators in Sikkim not merely to use BHASHINI but to develop solutions using the platform, while communities could contribute towards strengthening language models.
Director, Department of IT, Mr Prem Vijay Basnet, said the workshop had been in the works for nearly a year and that the signing of the MoU marked an important milestone, while emphasising that the real work would begin with its implementation on the ground.
He said the State would initially adopt a gradual approach, focusing on a limited number of services and languages, with Nepali, Bhutia and Lepcha being considered initially. A dedicated team from the Department of IT would work closely with BHASHINI experts and undertake training and capacity-building of officials to facilitate adoption of the technology.
He also stressed the importance of maintaining the quality and accuracy of translations, particularly given the sensitivity of local languages. He said services would be tested with real users before being rolled out and continuously improved based on feedback.
Earlier Principal Director, Department of IT, Mr T Samdup, in his welcome address, highlighted Sikkim’s rich linguistic diversity and said the partnership with BHASHINI would help bridge the language gap in accessing government services, particularly for people in rural and remote areas.
He said the initiative would enable government portals, forms and e-services to be made available in local languages, strengthening the State’s commitment to inclusive and citizen-centric digital governance.
The technical sessions provided an overview of the BHASHINI Udyat initiative, including the National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT), its architecture, services, APIs and integration capabilities. Participants were also introduced to ARPAN, the service layer of BHASHINI, covering applications related to translation, transcription, speech-to-speech and video translation.
The workshop also featured sessions on BHASHINI App Mitra, BHASHINI Mitra and BHASHINI Pravakta, covering applications and use cases in education, banking, governance and entrepreneurship, as well as opportunities for hackathons, innovation, research and startup engagement. Discussions also focused on strengthening regional language adoption and citizen participation in language datasets.
The programme concluded with an open discussion on potential use cases and a low-hanging fruit approach to identifying practical areas of adoption, followed by a vote of thanks by Joint Director, Department of IT, Mr Ashim Tamang.
Officials from various departments of the Government of Sikkim, along with language experts from the Education Department, attended the workshop.
