Gender-Responsive

Latest Context

The India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) and deliberations at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 have highlighted the need for inclusive, gender-responsive Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support India's vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

The focus is on ensuring that AI-driven growth benefits all sections of society, particularly women and workers in the informal economy.

Why is Gender-Responsive and Inclusive AI Important?

AI as a Driver of Inclusive Development

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, logistics, finance, manufacturing, and governance, making it one of the most significant drivers of economic growth.

Since nearly 90% of India's workforce is employed in the informal sector, contributing almost half of the country's GDP, AI has immense potential to improve livelihoods, productivity, and access to public services.

According to NITI Aayog, AI-based solutions can directly benefit nearly 490 million informal workers by improving financial inclusion, market access, and service delivery.

Need for Gender-Responsive AI

Women constitute a major share of India's informal economy. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), nearly 82% of working women are employed in the informal sector, while the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24 reports that 76.9% of rural women are engaged in agriculture.

AI systems designed without considering women's specific needs may reinforce existing inequalities through algorithmic bias, digital exclusion, and discriminatory outcomes. Therefore, UN Women emphasises that AI must be developed with fairness, accessibility, transparency, and accountability to ensure that technological progress is equitably shared.

Role of AI in Informal Livelihoods and Agriculture

Enhancing Rural Livelihoods

AI can significantly improve rural incomes through precision farming, crop monitoring, pest identification, weather forecasting, and AI-based advisory services available in local languages. It can also facilitate digital credit assessment, crop insurance, market linkages, and skill development for Self Help Groups (SHGs), home-based workers, and platform workers, thereby strengthening financial inclusion.

Evidence of Positive Impact

A Farmer.Chat Study (2024) conducted across 12 Indian States found that nearly 61% of women users reported an improved quality of life within 45 days of using AI-enabled advisory services. Women also showed higher engagement than men, demonstrating that AI becomes more effective when it addresses language preferences, land ownership patterns, mobility constraints, and access to information specific to women.

Governance Priorities for Inclusive AI

Gender Impact Assessments

The India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) advocate integrating fairness and equity into AI systems. High-impact AI applications in sectors such as employment, healthcare, welfare delivery, education, public services, and credit should undergo Gender Impact Assessments to identify discrimination based on gender, caste, disability, location, and socio-economic status before deployment.

AI Literacy as Public Infrastructure

Bridging the digital divide requires more than internet access. AI literacy should be integrated with flagship programmes such as DAY-NRLM, DDU-GKY, Skill India Mission, and Mission Shakti so that women can effectively use AI-enabled services, access government schemes, participate in digital markets, and secure higher-income livelihood opportunities.

Ensuring Digital Safety

Technology-enabled gender-based violence, including deepfakes, online harassment, and non-consensual AI-generated content, discourages women's participation in digital spaces. Effective implementation of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, along with mandatory labelling of AI-generated content proposed by MeitY, can help build trust and improve online safety.

Major Challenges

Algorithmic and Structural Barriers

Inclusive AI remains constrained by algorithmic bias arising from non-representative datasets, limited availability of high-quality Indian language datasets, persistent digital divide in internet access and device ownership, inadequate AI literacy among women, and limited transparency in AI decision-making. Weak grievance redress mechanisms, cyber threats, deepfakes, and the under-representation of women in AI research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and policymaking further restrict equitable AI adoption.

Government Initiatives Supporting Inclusive AI

Building India's Responsible AI Ecosystem

India has developed a strong institutional framework for responsible and inclusive AI through the IndiaAI Mission, which supports AI innovation, computing infrastructure, datasets, and skill development. The BHASHINI initiative promotes multilingual AI services to overcome language barriers, while the India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) establish principles of fairness, accountability, transparency, privacy, safety, and equity.

Supporting Digital Inclusion

The NITI Aayog AI Roadmap promotes AI applications in agriculture, healthcare, education, and governance, while Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), including Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker, enables inclusive digital service delivery. Schemes such as Mission Shakti, Skill India, DAY-NRLM, and DDU-GKY strengthen women's digital skills and livelihoods.

Additionally, Digital ShramSetu, developed by NITI Aayog, aims to improve the livelihoods of 490 million informal workers through AI-enabled solutions using state-driven implementation, regulatory support, affordability, and strategic partnerships.

Road Ahead

Towards Inclusive AI for Viksit Bharat

India must integrate gender audits into all high-impact AI systems, expand multilingual AI applications through BHASHINI, strengthen AI literacy using community institutions and Self Help Groups, and adopt Gender Responsive Budgeting for AI investments. Simultaneously, stronger cyber governance, faster grievance redress mechanisms, improved digital safety, and greater participation of women in AI research, entrepreneurship, and policymaking are essential.

A gender-responsive AI ecosystem will ensure that technological advancement contributes not only to economic growth but also to social inclusion, digital justice, and equitable development, thereby supporting India's aspiration of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047.