{"id":80201,"date":"2026-07-28T17:46:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:16:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=80201"},"modified":"2026-07-28T18:29:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:59:58","slug":"gender-responsive-ai-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/28-07-2026\/gender-responsive-ai-india","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive &#038; Gender-Responsive AI: Reaching India\u2019s Informal Women Worker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Inclusive Growth; Science &amp; Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> India AI Governance Guidelines (2025)<\/strong> and debates at the <strong>India AI Impact Summit 2026<\/strong> highlighting inclusive <strong>&nbsp;Artificial Intelligence (AI) <\/strong>utilisation to attain <strong>Viksit Bharat by 2047.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why is Gender-Responsive and Inclusive AI Important?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionising agriculture, healthcare, logistics, education, finance and governance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s informal workforce<strong> comprises roughly 90% of the labour force<\/strong> and contributes <strong>nearly half of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)<\/strong>. AI can serve <strong>India\u2019s 490 million informal workers<\/strong> <strong><em>(NITI Aayog)<\/em><\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to <strong>ILO (2018)<\/strong>, almost 82% of working women in India are in the informal sector while the <strong>PLFS 2023\u201324 reports<\/strong> that 76.9% of rural women are in agriculture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI systems that <strong>do not cater to gender-specific needs<\/strong> risk reinforcing existing disparities as women form a large part of India\u2019s informal workforce.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI can cement prejudices, digital violence and algorithmic bias unless built with fairness, accessibility and accountability <strong>(UN Women).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The vision of <strong>Viksit Bharat by 2047 <\/strong>needs the increased productivity to be fairly dispersed and not cornered by the digitally privileged groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>AI in Informal Livelihoods &amp; Agriculture<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>AI has huge potential to enhance livelihoods by:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Precision farming<\/strong> for crop monitoring, insect identification and weather forecasts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Advisory services based on AI<\/strong> in local languages for input optimisation and market linkages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AI-powered credit evaluation and insurance for <strong>digital financial inclusion.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Skill upgradation<\/strong> of home based workers, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and platform workers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <strong>Farmer.Chat study (2024) survey <\/strong>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.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The findings indicate that AI technologies are more effective when they take into account women\u2019s realities such as language preferences, land ownership patterns, mobility limits and access to information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Thus, inclusive AI has the potential to empower rural livelihoods, increase productivity and expand women\u2019s economic involvement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Governance Priorities for Inclusive AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Gender Impact Assessments: <\/strong>India <strong>AI Governance Guidelines (2025)<\/strong> focus on fairness and equity.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>AI Literacy as Public Infrastructure:<\/strong> Digital Access Is Not Enough. Integrate AI literacy with <strong>DAY-NRLM, DDU-GKY, Skill India Mission and Mission Shakti\u2019s Sakhi <\/strong>network.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Training needs to be outcome-based so women can access government initiatives, digital platforms, markets and higher-paying livelihood options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital Safety and Trust: <\/strong>Technology-facilitated gender-based violence such as deepfakes, online abuse and non-consensual synthetic media restrict women\u2019s engagement in digital spaces.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To build a safe digital environment, MeitY\u2019s proposed mandatory labelling of AI-generated material and effective implementation of the <strong>Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021<\/strong>, is crucial.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Related Issues &amp; Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Algorithmic bias due to non-representative datasets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Indian regional language datasets of quality are few.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Persistent digital divide in terms of device ownership and internet access.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Limited understanding of AI and digital literacy among women in informal work.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of openness and explainability in AI-enabled decision-making.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Insufficient grievance redressal options for discrimination caused by AI.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cyber dangers, deepfakes and online abuse limit women\u2019s digital involvement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under-representation of women in AI research, design and policy making.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives Supporting Inclusive AI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India possesses a solid institutional structure for the advancement of responsible AI:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>IndiaAI Mission<\/strong> for AI innovation, computing infrastructure, datasets and skilling.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bhasha Interface for India (BHASHINI)<\/strong> will offer multilingual AI services to overcome linguistic obstacles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India AI Governance Guidelines (2025)<\/strong> fostering fairness, accountability, transparency, safety, privacy and equity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>NITI Aayog\u2019s Roadmap on AI<\/strong> for inclusive societal development with focus on applications of AI in agriculture, healthcare, education and governance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)<\/strong> such as Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker for inclusive AI-enabled service delivery<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mission Shakti, Skill India, DAY-NRLM and DDU-GKY<\/strong> to enable digital skills and livelihoods for women.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital ShramSetu (NITI Aayog): <\/strong>It aims to transform the livelihoods of India&#8217;s <strong>490 million informal workers<\/strong> using AI and frontier technologies.&nbsp; 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Road Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To make AI a vehicle of inclusive progress, India needs to:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Make gender audits a part of high-impact AI systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Facilitating multilingual and localised AI use cases on platforms such as <strong>BHASHINI<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Community based institutions and SHGs for enhancing AI literacy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrate <strong>Gender Responsive Budgeting <\/strong>for AI investments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthen cyber governance and speed up redressal of grievances to improve digital safety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promote increased engagement of women in AI research, entrepreneurship and policymaking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q]<\/strong> 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.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/ais-next-test-reaching-indias-informal-women-worker\/article71273832.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daily-Editorial-Analysis-28-07-2026.pdf\"><strong>Download PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Published on:<\/strong> 28 July, 2026<\/p>\n<p>The India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) and debates at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 highlighting inclusive \u00a0Artificial Intelligence (AI) utilisation to attain Viksit Bharat by 2047.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":80206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2026\/07\/inclusive-gender-responsive-ai.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80201"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80238,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80201\/revisions\/80238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}