Patna: In a move to bridge Bihar’s rich heritage with modern technology, the state’s Revenue and Land Reforms Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Digital India Bhashini Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Under this initiative, records written in Kaithi script will be transliterated into Devanagari using artificial intelligence.
The MoU was signed by Amitabh Nag, CEO of Digital India Bhashini Division, and Jai Singh, Secretary of Revenue and Land Reforms Department, at an event held at the Chief Secretariat auditorium.
Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena described it as a commendable step, highlighting that Additional Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar Singh initiated the project keeping departmental challenges in mind. “This will prove to be a good step for all departments in the future. Along with Revenue, departments like Education, Social Welfare and Tourism will also benefit from this facility,” he said.
Meena emphasised that collaboration with Bhashini could help various departments find technical solutions to administrative issues. “Many records in Kaithi script are difficult to read, and departments still depend on retired personnel. With this technology, such dependency will end and people’s capacity will be developed,” he said, adding that efforts should also be made to convert Pali script documents into Hindi and English. He directed officials to organise a Bihar-specific hackathon soon.
Additional Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar Singh noted the initiative would aid the special survey process, as most cadastral and revision survey records are in Kaithi script. “These records are very difficult to read,” he said.
Amitabh Nag stated that language should never be a barrier. “This initiative is important to save historical knowledge and make it accessible through modern technology. Bihar’s leadership is commendable,” he said.
The signing ceremony was attended by Additional Chief Secretary of General Administration Department B. Rajender, Additional Chief Secretary of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department Harjot Kaur Bamhra, and senior officers of various departments.
Following the signing, a Rajyam workshop was held at the Revenue Survey Training Institute where technical experts and officials discussed knowledge sharing, capacity building, and plans to integrate Bhashini’s language technology framework within state departments.
Deepak Kumar Singh reiterated that Bhashini’s work on Kaithi script transliteration would benefit other departments as well. “Bhashini can prove to be very helpful in making our services reach the people. We should also focus on converting Pali documents into Hindi,” he said.
Senior officials including CID ADG Parasnath, Land Records and Survey Director J. Priyadarshini, Special Secretary Arun Kumar Singh, and Digital India Bhashini Division CEO Amitabh Nag participated in the workshop.
