Lok Sabha Question No. 1644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Centre of Excellence in AI
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Aparupa  Poddar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1644

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 13.12.2023

## CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN AI

## 1644.SHRIMATI APARUPA PODDAR:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Centre of Excellence (COE) regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been selected in the country,  if so, the details thereof and if not, reasons therefor;
- (b)  whether  the  Government  intends  to  regulate  the  AI  sector  and  their  some  activities regarding  spreading  misinformation  and  biasness,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government intends to deploy AI related systems to identify and minimize cyber crime, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) whether the Government intends to select an institute as the COE in AI in West Bengal; If so, details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a) and(d):The Budget Announcement 2023-24 regarding "Centres of Excellence in areas of Agriculture, Health and Sustainable Cities" states as under-

"For realizing the vision of 'Make AI in India and Make AI work for India', three centres of excellence for Artificial  Intelligence  will  be  set  up  in  top  educational  institutions.  Leading industry  players  will  partner  in  conducting  interdisciplinary  research,  develop  cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities. This will galvanize an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field."

In pursuance of the same, the Department of Higher Education (DHE) has  approved the setting up of 3 Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence with a total financial outlay of Rs.990.00 Cr over the period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28.The Call for Proposals under this initiative has been launched on 18-11-2023 through the online portal (https://iitjammu.ac.in/aicpmu), for selection through the challenge method.'

(b) and (c): Government of India is committed to ensure that, AI, while deployed is safe & trusted for all users. The Government has already established a framework for regulating user harms through the IT Act in May, 2021 and advanced it with amended IT rules in October 2022  and  April  2023.The  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  ('IT  Act')  and  rules  made thereunder contain several provisions for safeguarding users from digital crimes and online harms emanating through any technology including artificial intelligence  (AI).  The  IT  Act penalizes various offences relating to computer resources, including tampering with computer source  documents  (section  65),  dishonestly  or  fraudulently  damaging  computer  system (section  66),  identity  theft  (section  66C),  cheating  by  impersonation  (section  66D),  etc.In addition  to  such  general  provisions  regarding  cyber  offences,  it  also  provides  for  various offences that serve to secure  the digital  space  for  women,  e.g.,  violation  of  bodily  privacy (section 66E), transmitting of obscene material (section 67), and publishing or transmission of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form (section 67A and 67B). Further, the IT Rules cast specific obligation on intermediaries vis-à-vis what kind of information is to be hosted, displayed, uploaded, published, transmitted, stored or shared.  Intermediaries are also required to remove any content violative of any law for the time being in force as and when  brought  to  their  knowledge  either  through  a  court  order  or  through  a  notice  by appropriate  government  or  its  authorised  agency.  In  case  of  failure  to  follow  diligence  as provided  in  the  IT  Rules,  2021,  by  intermediaries,  they  shall  lose  their  exemption  from liability  under  section  79  of  the  IT  Act  and  shall  be  liable  for  consequential  action  as provided in such law.

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