On Thursday, at his camp office, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched a voice collection portal for the Garhwali, Kumaoni, and Jaunsari languages under the ‘Bhasha AI’ (Language AI) initiative, developed by the AI Strategic Engineering (AiSE) Foundation. The campaign was inaugurated with a voice clip of the Chief Minister recorded in the Kumaoni language. The objective of this initiative is to integrate the folk languages of Uttarakhand with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to foster their preservation, promotion, and usage across digital platforms.
Commending the AiSE Foundation’s initiative, the Chief Minister remarked that our languages and dialects are the essence of our identity. He emphasized the necessity of leveraging modern technology to preserve this identity, as well as to safeguard our folk arts, culture, and traditions. Noting that the application of Artificial Intelligence is expanding rapidly—with its scope set to grow even further in the future—he stressed the need to adapt our regional languages to this technology, ensuring that our rich linguistic heritage gains global recognition.
The Chief Minister stated that the state government aims to ensure that individuals living in even the most remote villages and regions can access information about government schemes—and communicate their concerns to the government—through their own native languages. For this to be possible, AI must be able to accurately comprehend our local languages. He highlighted the need to build an extensive repository of words from these regional languages, while also integrating their specific pronunciations and speaking styles into the AI system. This will enable the AI to better understand these languages and provide people with precise information in their own local tongues.
The Chief Minister further noted that in different parts of Uttarakhand, the same word may be pronounced in various ways. By uploading data through this portal, it will become easier for the AI to grasp the diverse vocabulary, pronunciations, and speaking styles inherent in these local languages. The Chief Minister expressed confidence that this initiative would play a significant role in preserving our folk languages, while also connecting future generations to their folk art, culture, and traditions. He extended his best wishes to everyone involved in this endeavor.
Speaking on the occasion, Padma Shri folk singer Pritam Bharatwan remarked that our folk languages embody a rich heritage of folk life, folk songs, *Jagar* (traditional ritualistic folk singing), and cultural traditions. The *Jagar* Academy will support this initiative by ensuring the correct pronunciation and preserving the authenticity of these local languages.
Sachidanand Semwal, founder of the AISE Foundation, explained that the ‘Bhasha AI’ (Language AI) initiative involves compiling a collection of words and audio from the Garhwali, Kumaoni, and Jaunsari folk languages. The objective is to eventually enable AI-based technology to facilitate communication in these folk languages.
Other notable individuals present on the occasion included Shakti Prasad Bhatt, Gajendra Nautiyal, Aniruddh Raithwan, Nidhi Semwal, Anil Godiyal, Dr. J.K. Pandey, and Dev Raturi.
