Meghalaya joins BHASHINI: Khasi, Garo languages to go digital

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: The Government of Meghalaya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Digital India Bhashini Division, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, for the launch and integration of Garo and Khasi languages into the BHASHINI platform—an artificial intelligence-powered initiative aimed at erasing linguistic barriers across the country.

The signing ceremony, held at the State Convention Centre, was attended virtually by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and in person by Minister of Art and Culture Paul Lyngdoh, along with members of the Khasi Literature Society and A’chik Literature Society.

CM Sangma said, “So truly a very important day, and of course this is an area which is going to impact all aspects of society—governance, of course, at one level. But it is something that’s going to impact the citizens and the people at large and almost every sector of the government in the days to come. And therefore, this is a very, very important step forward.”

The BHASHINI app, already equipped with 22 Indian languages, recently added Khasi and is now developing its Garo language model. “For going ahead and ensuring that we are able to translate the different languages, be it from Khasi to Garo or from Garo to Khasi and even to other languages like English and Hindi as well as other languages of national level. This particular step forward is going to bring in huge changes when it comes to simple aspects of governance at the grassroots level,” the Chief Minister remarked.

Highlighting the potential of the initiative to unlock economic and social opportunity, Sangma stated, “I really encourage youngsters especially that we must use this technology to be able to take forward different aspects of job creation and entrepreneurship… In terms of governance at the grassroots level, it will be very important when it comes to aspects of education and aspects of healthcare. In all these areas, there will be a huge benefit for all of us.”

The initiative gains institutional support through the newly constituted State Language Mission for Bhashini, led by Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang. The mission will focus on integrating linguistic structures—such as regional alphabets and dialects—into AI models while safeguarding cultural distinctiveness.

The MoU was signed by the CEO of the Digital India Bhashini Division, Amitabh Nag, and the Commissioner and Secretary of the State IT Department, Pravin Bakshi.

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