I&B Ministry
Ideologically I&B Ministry should be abolished: Javadekar
NEW DELHI: Virtually echoing the views of former Minister Manish Tewari, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that he ‘philosophically’ and ‘ideologically’ favoured abolishing his Ministry.
However, he justified this by noting that it was in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis of ‘less government, more governance’.
“Philosphically or ideologically, I’ll be willing to do that,” he said, when asked if India needed an I&B Ministry when many major democracies do not have such a profile.
Asked whether Modi was also “philosophically and ideologically” in agreement with his line of thinking, Javadekar said: “Absolutely”, during an interview by Karan Thapar on Headline Today’s programme “Nothing but the Truth.”
The Minister agreed with the suggestion for hiring professional editors for Doordarshan and All India Radio.
He was also open to discussion with stakeholders on more FDI in media.
“I think you are giving a good line for us. But ultimately, when our Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that more governance and less government, so you are actually contributing to the idea of less government and more governance. That’s our focus, but to achieve that end we have to follow a process,” he said.
The Minister said that as far as the public broadcaster is concerned, there are various models like the BBC and others available which would be studied. Javadekar said he was not in favour of a model where the public broadcaster is accountable to the minister “only”.
Javadekar said in the years ahead, words like “government-run”, “government-controlled” or “government intervention” will be less heard of.
“But I would like that government becomes less and less and freedom and market forces and at the same time social justice is achieved,” Javadekar concluded.
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.
