Mumbai, May 6 (PTI) Maharashtra IT minister Ashish Shelar on Wednesday directed officials to deploy artificial intelligence to eliminate human intervention in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tendering process and enhance transparency.
Shelar, who is also the Mumbai Suburban Guardian minister, said AI-driven systems would help monitor variations in tenders and significantly improve efficiency and accountability in project execution, according to an official release.
Following the state cabinet’s approval of Maharashtra’s Artificial Intelligence Policy, Shelar’s department has initiated steps for its implementation. In this context, he convened a meeting at Sahyadri Guest House, which was attended by BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, MahaIT Director Sanjay Katkar, IT Department Director Bhuvaneshwari and other civic officials.
During the meeting, BMC officials said AI is being used to improve transparency in drain-cleaning works and enhance service delivery. They also shared that citizen complaints are being registered at ward offices through AI-enabled chatbot systems, the release said.
Shelar asked officials to expand the use of AI and proposed a system in which citizens’ complaints, once spoken, are “video-recorded and forwarded” to the department concerned for immediate action, it said.
He also directed the BMC to adopt e-file and e-signature systems to move towards paperless administration, on the lines of their implementation in Mantralaya under Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Highlighting concerns over variations in BMC tenders, the minister said AI should be used to monitor and regulate such changes. He added that this would enable citizens to access details of completed works and allow the system to verify whether decisions regarding variations were justified.
Shelar also proposed organising a hackathon to encourage youth participation in the BMC’s administrative processes and bring in modern perspectives to urban governance. PTI ND NR
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