Bhubaneswar: Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja has been pushing for effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods to address various challenges and to smoothen the delivery of public service.
A Tech Savvy Mandarin, Shri Ahuja has been active in utilizing technology for the benefit of Public Service since long.
According to senior officials, the Chief Secretary Shri Ahuja from the very beginning, during this first introductory meeting with the Secretaries of various Departments, had advised them to use AI and Technology in delivery of services of their respective Department.
Mr Ahuja has successfully implemented several AI based methods to address various challenges in the agricultural sector to aid farmers during his tenure as Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
One of the major AI interventions is ‘Kisan e-Mitra’ an AI-powered chatbot to assist farmers with queries about the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme.
This solution supports multiple languages and is evolving to assist with other government programs.
National Pest Surveillance System for tackling the loss of produce due to climate change. This system utilizes AI and Machine Learning to detect crop issues, enabling timely intervention for healthier crops.
AI based analytics being used for field photographs for crop health assessment and crop health monitoring using Satellite, weather & soil moisture datasets for rice and wheat crops.
He also rolled out ‘My Ciphet’ mobile application to help farmers to get precise information regarding the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) developed post-harvest technologies, products and machineries.
The State has also initiated some AI based methods in different fields. The Government has used AI based cameras technology in smooth conduct of the Matric Board Examination and Rath Jatra this year. In both fields, the State has achieved success.
In fact there is a move to open AI Cell in the State Government for carrying out innovative initiatives, said sources.