Use AI to improve services, investigations, monitoring: Parliamentary Panels

Use ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or AI to improve services, investigations and monitoring of programmes – that is the advice Parliamentary panels are giving to ministries at a time there is an increased use of technology in governance.

At least three reports tabled by Parliamentary Standing Committees in the second leg of Budget, which started on March 13, have asked the government to put AI to good use in governance.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances and Law and Justice has asked the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension to use AI technology to help pensioners submit their grievances on the Centralised Public Grievances and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).

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While scrutinising the way public grievances are dealt with, the panel headed by senior BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi has said, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances should use AI to develop a mechanism in which “grievance can be lodged through voice recording”.

This, the panel said, will help the people who are unable to file grievances using the CPGRAMS portal.

The same panel, in a report on the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), also wanted the Central Vigilance Commission to use AI technology to monitor delays in processing of corruption cases.

The report noted that there is an “inordinate delay” in the disposal of vigilance cases inspite of the timeliness being stipulated for each and every stage of investigation.

The panel wanted the CVC to create a dashboard on its website reflecting the status of each case right from the stage of filing of the complaint to its disposal.

“The Committee further recommends CVC to use data mining tools, time stamping and artificial intelligence methods to monitor delays in the processing of cases. The CVC, accordingly, seeks additional (financial) resources,” it said.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by Rajya Sabha MP and former Uttar Pradesh DGP Brijlal has also recommended use of AI in crime detection and investigation.

While urging state police to use technology, the committee has said AI could be used to draw correlations between the types of crime, time, location, match fingerprints, facial images, analyse CCTV footage and recognise vehicle number plate among others.

“Big data can be used to integrate and store data from multiple sources. This will help in developing a scientific approach to policing. The Committee recommends that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) encourage and incentivise states to leverage technologies like AI, big data etc for policing,” it said.

The MHA has responded to the panel saying that it shares the same view and they will continue to leverage technologies like AI, big data analysis etc.