I&B Ministry
Give more funds to DAVP for empowering people: Parliamentary Committee
NEW DELHI: Noting that the then Information and Broadcasting ministry secretary had admitted that the budget availability for publicity purpose was not adequate enough, a Parliamentary Committee has recommended that the budgetary allocation for the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity should be enhanced.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology which goes into issues relating to I and B said this will help DAVP to broadbase and increase the outreach of the multimedia campaigns being carried out by it through various means such as television, print, social media or other outreach programmes for the welfare of the society.
Noting that a reduced allocation of Rs 125.60 crore had been made during 2016-17 at the Budget Estimate stage for the ‘People’s Empowerment through Development Communication’ (PEDC) scheme, the Committee felt this amount was‘grossly inadequate to meet the requirement under this important scheme. As a matter of fact, the allocation was about 69 percent of the total outlay for the information sector.
The Committee was told that during the first year of 12th the Plan 2012-13, utilization of funds for PEDC was to the tune of Rs.103.18 crore which was increased to Rs.189 crore in the year 2013-14 and Rs.155.2 crore in the year 2014-15. For the year 2015-16, an allocation of Rs.151 crore had been made at the Revised Estimate stage out of which the actual expenditure as on 30 March 2016 had been Rs.146.34 crore.
The Committee was given to understand that the line ministries and departments carry their ministry-specific campaign for which they have their own budgetary allocations. However, the DAVP’s budget allocation obtained through the Development Communication and Information Dissemination (DCID) programme of I&B ministry is used to run integrated campaigns on all the flagship programmes of the government.
The Committee observed that the government had been launching several initiatives and direct benefit schemes for the welfare of the people, and information regarding these schemes have to be disseminated to the people and the target groups.
To achieve this objective, the scheme of PEDC had an important role to play. In order to facilitate integrated campaign on various flagship programmes of the government, the DAVP needs a much larger budget with matching fund allocation which requires more allocation for the information sector.
The DAVP is the nodal multimedia advertising agency of the government catering to the communication needs of the ministries/departments, autonomous bodies and PSUs. In order to strengthen the publicity of various peoples’ welfare and participation oriented programmes in a holistic manner, and to enable efficient discharge of its services, the DAVP had sought and obtained increased funding for two of its Plan Schemes – PEDC implemented through the DCID scheme and ‘Media Infrastructure Development Programme’.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
