National conference on AI for empowering persons with disabilities held in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the landscape of accessibility and inclusive development, a message that stood central at the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Persons with Disabilities, held today in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
The landmark event brought together an impressive array of government officials, academicians, technologists, and accessibility advocates to explore how AI is enhancing the lives of persons with disabilities.
Delivering the special address at the conference, Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary of the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, described the emergence of AI as the dawn of "a new era of inclusion."
His keynote highlighted transformative advances in Deep Learning, Robotics, and Computer Vision, underlining their enormous potential to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
As part of his address, Aggarwal also launched four key initiatives aimed at integrating AI into the accessibility ecosystem:
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Mission AI Accessibility
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Mission AI: Implementation of AI in Assistive Technologies and Tools for Empowering People with Disabilities
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National Disability Support AI Chatbot
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United Benefits Interface (UBI)
These initiatives seek to establish inclusive digital infrastructures and offer scalable AI-driven solutions in assistive technologies, marking a significant step towards digital inclusion.
The conference was jointly organized by the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) and the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), a Mini Ratna Central Public Sector Enterprise operating under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Praveen Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of ALIMCO, reaffirmed the organization's commitment to advancing innovation in assistive technology and promoting inclusive design practices.
He emphasized that AI can serve as a force multiplier in building a more accessible India and praised the multi-sector collaboration the event fostered.
The event drew participation from several leading voices across academia, industry, and government, including:
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Venu Govindaraju, Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science, University at Buffalo, USA (via video conference)
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P.V.M. Rao and Rohan Paul, Professors at IIT Delhi
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Buddha Chandrashekhar, CEO, Anuvadhini
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Pragya Misra, Partnerships Lead, OpenAI – India
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Aalekh Sharan, Head, Enterprise AI & Strategy, Sarvam AI
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Manu Chopra, CEO, Karya Inc.
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Sandeep Alur, CTO, Microsoft Innovation Hub, India
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Chandrika Jain, Director of Marketing, Lenovo
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Shekhar Naik, Padma Shri awardee and Inclusion Advocate, IIM Bangalore
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Arshad Sayyad, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, StackGen
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Ananthalakshmi Venkitaraman, CEO, EquiBeing Foundation
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Prateek Madhav, Co-Founder and CEO, AssisTech Foundation (ATF)
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Amit Prakash, Professor and Head, Department of Human-Centered Computing, IIIT Bengaluru
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Amrita Kamat, Representative, Google India
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Ekroop Caur, Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and S&T, Government of Karnataka
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Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC), New Delhi
The conference spotlighted how cross-disciplinary collaboration can harness AI to empower millions of persons with disabilities.
A National Conference on Artificial Intelligence For Empowering Persons with Disabilities was held today at Hotel The Lalit, Bengaluru. The conference was jointly organized by the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD),
— PIB in Karnataka (@PIBBengaluru) May 30, 2025
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Karnataka Health Dept bars leave for staff amid ASHA workers’ strike starting Aug 12
Bengaluru, Aug 11 (PTI): In response to a planned three-day strike by ASHA workers starting August 12, the Karnataka Health Department on Monday issued a notice prohibiting all officers and staff from taking leave during the protest period, except in cases of medical emergencies.
Accredited Social Health Activists workers are demanding the fixed honorarium of Rs 10,000 promised by the state government in January. They have announced a continuous state-level protest from August 12 to 14.
The notice stated, “Information about ASHA workers absent from duty within district limits will be collected daily from primary health centres, compiled at the district level, and submitted to the commissionerate by 3 pm during the protest.”
The Health Department also urged community health officers, primary health protection officers, health inspectors, and Anganwadi workers to cooperate in ensuring that health services to the public remain uninterrupted.
