Syllabus: GS3/Inclusive Growth; Science & Technology
Context
- The India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) and debates at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 highlighting inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) utilisation to attain Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Why is Gender-Responsive and Inclusive AI Important?
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising agriculture, healthcare, logistics, education, finance and governance.
- India’s informal workforce comprises roughly 90% of the labour force and contributes nearly half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). AI can serve India’s 490 million informal workers (NITI Aayog).
- According to ILO (2018), almost 82% of working women in India are in the informal sector while the PLFS 2023–24 reports that 76.9% of rural women are in agriculture.
- AI systems that do not cater to gender-specific needs risk reinforcing existing disparities as women form a large part of India’s informal workforce.
- AI can cement prejudices, digital violence and algorithmic bias unless built with fairness, accessibility and accountability (UN Women).
- The vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047 needs the increased productivity to be fairly dispersed and not cornered by the digitally privileged groups.
AI in Informal Livelihoods & Agriculture
- AI has huge potential to enhance livelihoods by:
- Precision farming for crop monitoring, insect identification and weather forecasts.
- Advisory services based on AI in local languages for input optimisation and market linkages.
- AI-powered credit evaluation and insurance for digital financial inclusion.
- Skill upgradation of home based workers, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and platform workers.
- A Farmer.Chat study (2024) survey across 12 States indicated that 61% of women users reported a better quality of life within 45 days and women were much more engaged than males.
- The findings indicate that AI technologies are more effective when they take into account women’s realities such as language preferences, land ownership patterns, mobility limits and access to information.
- Thus, inclusive AI has the potential to empower rural livelihoods, increase productivity and expand women’s economic involvement.
Governance Priorities for Inclusive AI
- Gender Impact Assessments: India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) focus on fairness and equity.
- AI systems with implications for employment, welfare delivery, credit, healthcare or public services must be subjected to gender impact assessments to identify gender, caste, disability, location and socio-economic status-based inequities.
- AI Literacy as Public Infrastructure: Digital Access Is Not Enough. Integrate AI literacy with DAY-NRLM, DDU-GKY, Skill India Mission and Mission Shakti’s Sakhi network.
- Training needs to be outcome-based so women can access government initiatives, digital platforms, markets and higher-paying livelihood options.
- Digital Safety and Trust: Technology-facilitated gender-based violence such as deepfakes, online abuse and non-consensual synthetic media restrict women’s engagement in digital spaces.
- To build a safe digital environment, MeitY’s proposed mandatory labelling of AI-generated material and effective implementation of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, is crucial.
Related Issues & Challenges
- Algorithmic bias due to non-representative datasets.
- Indian regional language datasets of quality are few.
- Persistent digital divide in terms of device ownership and internet access.
- Limited understanding of AI and digital literacy among women in informal work.
- Lack of openness and explainability in AI-enabled decision-making.
- Insufficient grievance redressal options for discrimination caused by AI.
- Cyber dangers, deepfakes and online abuse limit women’s digital involvement.
- Under-representation of women in AI research, design and policy making.
Government Initiatives Supporting Inclusive AI
- India possesses a solid institutional structure for the advancement of responsible AI:
- IndiaAI Mission for AI innovation, computing infrastructure, datasets and skilling.
- Bhasha Interface for India (BHASHINI) will offer multilingual AI services to overcome linguistic obstacles.
- India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) fostering fairness, accountability, transparency, safety, privacy and equity.
- NITI Aayog’s Roadmap on AI for inclusive societal development with focus on applications of AI in agriculture, healthcare, education and governance.
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) such as Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker for inclusive AI-enabled service delivery
- Mission Shakti, Skill India, DAY-NRLM and DDU-GKY to enable digital skills and livelihoods for women.
- Digital ShramSetu (NITI Aayog): It aims to transform the livelihoods of India’s 490 million informal workers using AI and frontier technologies. It outlines a targeted strategy focused on persona or sector led prioritisation, state-driven implementation, regulatory enablement and strategic partnerships to ensure affordability and scale.
Road Ahead
- To make AI a vehicle of inclusive progress, India needs to:
- Make gender audits a part of high-impact AI systems.
- Facilitating multilingual and localised AI use cases on platforms such as BHASHINI.
- Community based institutions and SHGs for enhancing AI literacy
- Integrate Gender Responsive Budgeting for AI investments.
- Strengthen cyber governance and speed up redressal of grievances to improve digital safety.
- Promote increased engagement of women in AI research, entrepreneurship and policymaking.
| Daily Mains Practice Question [Q] Discuss the need for gender-responsive Artificial Intelligence (AI) in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. Examine the challenges and suggest suitable policy measures. |
