Aaple Sarkar WhatsApp AI Chatbot By Maharashtra Govt To Help Citizens

In an age where Gen AI is taking the world by storm, how could India’s governance system simply observe? In a bold step towards making governance easier, the Maharashtra Government has joined hands with Meta to come up with a novel solution for addressing key public concerns, eradicating the need for citizens of Mumbai to head to a dedicated website. That novel solution is Meta’s Gen AI chatbot and guess how it is made accessible!

WhatsApp. No brownie points considering the headline! Boo hoo!

Nonetheless, the Gen AI chatbot is expected to make e-governance in the state of Maharashtra a lot easier, since WhatsApp is widely available as a tool of communication among people. The chatbot, called Aaple Sarkar (Marathi for ‘Your Government’), is available in all the languages widely spoken in the state. 

Note: Aaple Sarkar is also the name for the Maharashtra Government's online redressal portal.

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WhatsApp AI chatbot for Maharashtra Govt 

For the Aaple Sarkar chatbot, the Maharashtra government has harnessed Meta’s Gen AI prowess to make it easy to respond to public requests. It is said that 125 million citizens will reap the benefits of this technological innovation. 

Apple Sarkar will be available in Marathi, English and Hindi languages, thus taking care of a multilingual population. Since it relies on Meta AI, the bot’s service will be available via both text and voice. 

As far as services are concerned, the Apple Sarkar chatbot will address public grievances, assist in downloading certificates and critical documents, offer services like booking bus tickets for Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) or Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST). Even farmers will be getting timely access to crucial information across Maharashtra.  

The collaboration with Meta isn’t restricted to just the chatbot though. The Maharashtra government has also announced using Meta’s Llama open-source Gen AI model for improving the quality of governance in the state. 

As of now, the date of availability for the Aaple Sarkar chatbot is yet to be revealed.

“The Government of Maharashtra is committed to harnessing the power of open-source Gen AI technology to improve and simplify the access to public services. In partnership with Meta, we are taking a significant step in not only making government services digitally accessible through WhatsApp, but also more efficient, bridging the gap between governance and the people,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. 

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