I&B Ministry
Mobile Apps to help passengers for railways, taxi services
NEW DELHI: Despite fears that the growth of Internet is not as fast as it should be, social media and apps appear to be pervading all spheres of live.
Taking a cue from the heavy dependence of social media and mobile on people’s lives, the Railway Ministry has launched a portal on Complaint Management in English and Hindi to address needs of the consumers. However, the mobile application is available only in English on Android platform.
The public complaints and suggestions are being monitored on a real time basis. Necessary instructions have been issued to concerned officials to finalize the complaints at the earliest. However, no time frame has been set to redress the complaints.
Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha told the Parliament that bona fide passengers could also send their suggestions through this newly launched portal.
The details of the Railway Mobile App have been given wide publicity through Indian Railways’ sharing details on its social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Meanwhile, the Road Transport & Highways Ministry has finalised a draft advisory for the State Governments in consultation with stakeholders with regard to taxi-hailing services using mobile apps.
The taxi hailing services or the on-demand transport aggregating services in question are covered under Section 93 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
The State Governments have the power to regulate such service providers under Section 93, Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Hon Radhakrishnan told Parliament today.
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.
