Latest news with #SabhaSaar
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Knowledge Nugget : Why ‘SabhaSaar', AI tool for Gram Sabha, matters for your UPSC exam
Take a look at the essential concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget on SabhaSaar, a new AI tool for gram sabha. (Relevance: The use of technology to democratise governance in India has been the focus of the government. SabhaSaar is a crucial step in that direction. UPSC has asked questions on such terms and as well government policies, making it important from both Prelims and Mains perspective.) On the occasion of Independence Day, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool named 'SabhaSaar' is rolled out in Tripura and thereafter made available to other states. It was unveiled by the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan and his deputy Prof SP Singh Baghel in New Delhi on Thursday (14th August). 1. 'SabhaSaar' leverages the power of AI to generate structured minutes of meetings from gram sabha videos and audio recordings. It will bring uniformity in minutes of the gram sabha meetings across the country. Panchayat officials can use their e-GramSwaraj login credentials to upload video/audio recordings on 'SabhaSaar'. 2. 'SabhaSaar' is built on Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform launched by the government to bridge literacy, language, and digital divides. The tool generates a transcription from a video or audio, translates it into a chosen output language, and prepares a summary. It enables transcription in all major Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to English. 3. 'SabhaSaar' is ideal for panchayats, administrative bodies, and rural development projects as it streamlines documentation and empowers stakeholders with instant access to meeting insights, as per sources. 4. A gram sabha is supposed to meet at least four days (January 26, May 1, August 15, and October 2) in a year. To ensure that gram sabhas meet regularly and function transparently, the Panchayati Raj ministry has launched a Panchayat NIRNAY portal, a real-time monitoring system that deals with their meetings. 5. With the primary objective of making the Gram Sabha meetings more participatory, transparent and vibrant, Panchayat NIRNAY has provisions for scheduling and notifying citizens with the meeting agenda well in advance. 6. According to data available with the ministry, over 10,000 gram Sabha meetings were held through the Panchayat NIRNAY platform during the financial year 2024-25. Most of these meetings were held in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar. 7. Gram Sabha is the bedrock of the Panchayati Raj System in India. Notably, April 24 is celebrated as the Panchayati Raj Day. It was on this day that a three-tier system at the village, block, and district levels was established in 1993 after the enactment of the 73rd Amendment Act. 8. As per the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, there are 2,55,397 village panchayats, 6,742 intermediate panchayats, 665 district panchayats, and 16,189 traditional local bodies across the country. 1. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2022, BHASHINI, under the National Language Technology Mission, aims to provide translation services in 22 scheduled Indian languages to break through linguistic barriers and enable people to access digital services smoothly. 2. Bhashini is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based language translation tool designed to facilitate real-time translation of Indian languages to establish a National Public Digital Platform for languages and increase the amount of content available in Indian languages. 3. The BHASHINI project is designed to integrate technological advancements in governance with multiple language integration, fostering national integration and creating a more inclusive society by adopting artificial intelligence tools. 1. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj provided a written response to an unstarred question asked in the Rajya Sabha last year. It asked the ministry about the steps taken by the Government for the empowerment of Panchayats. The written response detailed the initiatives taken by the government. These initiatives include: 2. eGramSwaraj, a user-friendly web-based portal, which aims to bring in better transparency in the decentralised planning, progress reporting, financial management, work-based accounting, and details of assets created. 3. AuditOnline has been launched to ensure timely audit of Panchayat accounts i.e. receipts and expenditures of Gram Panchayats. This application not only facilitates the auditing of Panchayat accounts but also provides for maintaining of audit records. 4. To deliver various citizen-centric services online in the rural areas and Gram Panchayats, Common Service Centres have been set up through a 'Common Service Centre – Special Purpose Vehicle', a society of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. The fundamental object of Panchayati Raj system is to ensure which among the following? (UPSC CSE 2015) 1. People's participation in development. 2. Political accountability 3. Democratic decentralization 4. Financial mobilization Select the correct answer using the code given below. (a) 1, 2 and 3 only (b) 2 and 4 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 (Sources: Tripura pioneers artificial intelligence integration for greater digital inclusion in Northeast, How AI tool will bring structure, uniformity to minutes of gram sabha meetings across country, Role of Panchayati Raj in strengthening local governance) Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. 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News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
AI boost for panchayats: New tool to auto-record minutes of meeting launched
New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' on Thursday launched SabhaSaar, an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered meeting summarisation tool designed to automatically generate structured minutes of meeting (MoM) from gram sabha or other panchayat meetings' audio and video recordings. The Panchayati Raj Ministry said in a statement that the SabhaSaar tool uses advanced AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies to transcribe spoken discussions, identify key decisions and action points, and produce well-formatted meeting minutes. Integrated with Bhashini, the Government of India's National Language Translation Mission, the tool currently supports 13 Indian languages, ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for panchayat functionaries across linguistic backgrounds. The number of languages supported will also gradually be increased in future. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has urged all states and Union Territories (UTs) to utilise the SabhaSaar tool for generating MoMs for the special gram sabhas scheduled on August 15. As a first step, all the 1,194 gram panchayats of Tripura, including traditional local bodies, shall be using the tool to generate the minutes for these special gram sabhas. The Panchayati Raj Minister, along with Minister of State S P Singh Baghel and Panchayati Raj Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj also felicitated the special guests who will attend Independence Day celebrations here. PTI AO KSS KSS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 14, 2025, 22:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Deccan Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
AI-powered 'SabhaSaar' to generate minutes of gram sabha meetings in India soon
Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan and his deputy Prof S P Singh Baghel scheduled to unveil 'SabhaSaar' here on Thursday, on the eve of Independence Day.
Mint
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Panchayat leaders from 28 states, UTs to attend Independence Day celebrations as special guests
The panchayati raj ministry will host 210 panchayat representatives from 28 states and Union territories as special guests for the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort in New Delhi on 15 August. This comes as India sticks to its stand of protecting farmers in trade talks with the US. According to a press statement from the panchayati raj ministry, the panchayat representatives will be accompanied by their spouses and nodal officers, and 425 participants are expected to attend. This year's special guests include a significant number of women panchayat leaders who have brought visible improvements in their gram panchayats, like better infrastructure, enhanced public services and inclusive community initiatives. The women leaders have achieved significant success in saturating flagship government schemes such as Har Ghar Jal Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Gramin and Mission Indradhanush while also encouraging innovative local initiatives and solutions at the grassroots, stated the release. The government release stated that the elected women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions exemplify the emerging strength of rural leadership, successfully combining their governance responsibilities with forward-looking development approaches across diverse regions of the country. Meanwhile, a formal felicitation programme for the special guests will be held on 14 August in New Delhi. The felicitation ceremony will include the launch of the artificial intelligence-powered SabhaSaar application, a digital tool to promote transparency, accountability, and public participation in local governance, specifically at the gram panchayat level, and the release of the 16th issue of the Gramoday Sankalp magazine. The SabhaSaar app leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to generate structured Minutes of Meeting (MoM) from gram sabha videos and audio recordings. Earlier, the minutes were transcribed manually. So, citizens can access the MoM and decisions taken by their panchayat members. Minister of panchayati raj (MoPR) Rajiv Ranjan Singh and minister of state for panchayati raj Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel will attend the function. Additionally, MoPR secretary Vivek Bharadwaj and other senior ministry officials will also be present on the occasion. The theme for this year's programme, 'Atmanirbhar Panchayat, Vikshit Bharat Ki Pehchaan', captures the vision of self-reliant panchayats as a pillar of developed India.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
How AI tool will bring structure, uniformity to minutes of gram sabha meetings across country
The Centre is set to unveil an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool to automatically generate minutes of meetings of gram sabhas, the primary body of the Panchayati Raj system, consisting of all registered voters of a gram panchayat. Named 'SabhaSaar', it will be rolled out in Tripura on Independence Day, August 15, and thereafter made available to other states, said a government official. Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan and his deputy Prof SP Singh Baghel will unveil 'SabhaSaar' in New Delhi Thursday, on the eve of Independence Day. A source said 'SabhaSaar' is built on Bhashini, an AI-powered language translation platform launched by the government to bridge literacy, language, and digital divides. The tool generates transcription from a video or audio, translates it into a chosen output language and prepares a summary. It enables transcription in all major Indian languages like Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to English, the source said. 'SabhaSaar' is ideal for panchayats, administrative bodies, and rural development projects as it streamlines documentation and empowers stakeholders with instant access to meeting insights, as per sources. As per the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, there are 2,55,397 village panchayats, 6,742 intermediate panchayats, 665 district panchayats, and 16,189 traditional local bodies across the country. A gram sabha is supposed to meet at least four days (January 26, May 1, August 15, and October 2) in a year. To ensure that gram sabhas meet regularly and function transparently, the Panchayati Raj ministry has launched a Panchayat NIRNAY portal, a real-time monitoring system that deals with their meetings. It has provisions for scheduling, notifying citizens with the meeting agenda well in advance, enhancing public participation, recording and enabling panchayat decisions for ready reference, bringing about transparency and accountability of panchayat functionaries in panchayat decision making and its implementation. According to data available with the ministry, over 10,000 gram Sabha meetings were held through the Panchayat NIRNAY platform during the financial year 2024-25. Most of these meetings were held in Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Bihar.
