Department of Rural Development to Organize Workshop on “Leveraging AI in Rural Development' at Bharat Mandapam

The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, will organize a National Workshop on "Leveraging AI in Rural Development" at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 25 June 2026. The day-long workshop will serve as a collaborative platform to align cutting-edge technological innovations with the grassroots developmental needs of rural India.

The workshop will bring together key stakeholders, including NITI Aayog, the IndiaAI Mission, leading industry consultancies, technology startups, academia and knowledge partners, to deliberate on the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence in accelerating rural development outcomes.

Workshop Objectives

The workshop aims to identify scalable and high-impact AI use cases tailored to rural growth, showcase implementation insights and institutional learning from industry partners and academia, and assess the readiness of the data ecosystem and institutional frameworks required for nationwide technology adoption.

Thematic Sessions

Technical deliberations during the workshop will be structured around five thematic sessions. The first session, titled "AI, DPI & Emerging Technologies - Building the Future of Rural Governance", will focus on integrating India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) with Artificial Intelligence to modernize rural governance and administrative systems. The second session, "AI for Citizen-Centric Rural Service Delivery & Social Protection", will explore the use of algorithmic models to enhance the efficiency, transparency and targeted delivery of welfare benefits to rural citizens.

The third session, "AI for Rural Infrastructure, Climate Resilience & Asset Management", will deliberate on the deployment of predictive technologies for public works management, automated asset tracking and climate risk mitigation in rural areas. The fourth session, "AI for Rural Livelihood, Skilling, and Financial Empowerment", will examine technology-enabled approaches to strengthen rural enterprises, bridge skill gaps among rural youth and expand access to financial services. The fifth session, "Responsible AI, Governance, Policy and Pathways to Scale", will focus on issues relating to data privacy, ethical AI frameworks, policy compliance and pathways for scaling AI-based interventions across rural India.

Broad-Based Participation

The workshop will feature extensive panel discussions involving domain experts, policymakers, industry leaders and innovators. Distinguished moderators and speakers from NITI Aayog, the IndiaAI Mission, academia, knowledge institutions and emerging deep-tech startups will share their perspectives and experiences, including innovative grassroots-level pilots and technology solutions.

The collective insights emerging from the workshop are expected to contribute towards the formulation of a policy roadmap for integrating safe, robust and impactful AI tools into India's rural development ecosystem.

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RC/PU