I&B Ministry
Javadekar condemns misuse of social media to create tensions
NEW DELHI: A day after airing his views on abolition of his own Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said the government should not exercise control over media which should have its own mechanisms for this.
Addressing members of Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC), he also said: the biggest challenge for Prasar Bharti was how Doordarshan becomes the first choice for the viewer.
“In whichever model it works, we’ll choose that. We have given autonomy but result should also come,” he said.
Noting that freedom of press was the result of a long struggle, the Minister also stressed upon responsibility of the media.
The government is in favour of infrastructure augmentation in border areas where people get to hear the propaganda of other countries but the voice of Indian government at times does not reach.
Javadekar said while answering a question that social media fell under the Information Technology Act which was not administered by his Ministry, but added that the freedom afforded by social media should be used responsibly. He said misuse of social media to create tensions in society is condemnable and should not happen.
At one stage, Javadekar mentioned that his father had worked in a publication and that he had been a member of the Press Council which is often called a “toothless wonder”.
Javadekar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had encouraged his ministers to be innovative. He said one innovative practice that the I&B and Environment ministries, which are both under him, will start is regarding advertisements they issue.
He said it had been decided that people would be asked to provide ideas and designs for advertisements and the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity will only release them. “We will recognise and award the good designs that are selected,” he 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.
