MUMBAI: Lost in translation? India’s BHASHINI initiative is using artificial intelligence to help international civil servants find common ground, enabling real-time English Spanish communication at a governance training programme in Mussoorie.
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), under Digital India Corporation (DIC) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), deployed its Shrutlekh platform at the National Centre for Good Governance’s (NCGG) Capacity Building Programme on Urban Service Delivery for Civil Servants of Multiple Countries. The programme runs from 12 to 23 October 2026.
Sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and organised by NCGG under the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the initiative is part of India’s international capacity-building efforts through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme.
Shrutlekh was deployed during the programme’s ice-breaking session to facilitate two-way translation between English and Spanish, helping participants follow conversations and engage with one another despite language differences.
The programme brings together civil servants and public-sector representatives from nine countries: Peru, Cambodia, Nigeria, Kenya, Palestine, Lebanon, The Gambia, Ecuador and Spain. The participants are using the platform to exchange experiences and discuss approaches to governance and urban service delivery.
The BHASHINI team also helped delegates navigate Shrutlekh and introduced them to the wider multilingual AI ecosystem, including potential applications in healthcare, finance, agriculture and public services.
The deployment reflects BHASHINI’s voice-first multilingual AI approach, which aims to make communication and digital services more accessible through speech-based technology.
Participants were encouraged to explore the BHASHINI mobile application and its features for overcoming language barriers in everyday conversations and digital interactions. Shrutlekh is intended to remain available throughout the programme until 23 October, subject to operational requirements.
The initiative highlights a practical use of AI in international collaboration, where language differences can complicate the exchange of technical knowledge and administrative practices. Real-time translation can help participants engage more directly, although the deployment does not establish how much it has improved programme outcomes.
For BHASHINI, the Mussoorie engagement offers an opportunity to demonstrate how multilingual AI can support cross-cultural communication beyond domestic digital services. As governments increasingly collaborate across borders, the ability to communicate across languages could become an important tool for making public-sector learning more accessible.
