NITI Aayog Convenes Frontier 50 Workshop: Advancing Intelligent Governance In Aspirational Blocks.

New Delhi, Delhi, 28th of February, 2026 : NITI Aayog convened the Frontier 50 Workshop on 27th February 2026, under the Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme (ADP/ABP), marking a strategic shift from digital governance to intelligent AI-enabled governance in public policy. The workshop was graced by Ms Nidhi Chhibber, CEO NITI Aayog, Prof Abhay Karandikar, Secretary Department of Science and Technology and Ms Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow and Chief Architect NITI Frontier Technology and Shri Rohit Kumar, Additional Secretary and Mission Director, Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme, NITI Aayog, in the presence of senior Officers from the Central Government, State Governments and District Magistrates. Deliberations focused on operationalising Frontier Technologies across 50 Aspirational Blocks as real-world impact sandboxes. The ADP/ABP newsletter Aspirational Times was released during the Workshop.

The Inaugural Session underscored that India’s growth happens District by District. Technology was positioned as a strategic enabler of Viksit Bharat, moving governance from service digitisation toward adaptive intelligence and institutional reinvention. Speakers emphasised that Frontier Technology can unlock a national tech dividend, accelerate economic growth and social development and strengthen strategic autonomy. Core principles included focusing on real governance problems, enabling data-driven decision making, building institutional capacity, breaking silos and anchoring technology in leadership and trust.

Thematic Sessions on Frontier Technology

Eight Ministries had the platform to showcase the avenues of Digital Integration in decision-making at the District level. The National Quality Assurance Standards framework has certified public health facilities through the SaQsham platform across 29 States and UTs. Under POSHAN 2.0, the POSHAN Tracker monitors over 14 lakh Anganwadi Centres in near real time, transforming nutrition delivery into a measurable governance system. Under Jal Jeevan Mission, rural tap water coverage has expanded with geo-tagged assets and pipeline mapping on PM Gati Shakti, with emphasis on District Collectors, VWSC-led ownership and water quality testing. Digital livestock governance through Pashu Aadhar enables real-time vaccination tracking and AI-ready datasets for disease surveillance. The Digital Agriculture Mission is building interoperable digital public infrastructure through AgriStack and Bharat Vistaar integrating farmer registries, geo-referenced maps and multilingual advisories. In banking and financial services, AI supports credit scoring fraud detection AML and KYC automation and monitoring of financial inclusion indicators. Discussions also highlighted need assessments in borewell-dependent areas API integration improved POSHAN validation and AR-based training for frontline workers.

Group Discussion and Way Forward

Frontier Technology demonstrations included India AI sovereign stack applications presented by Shri Abhishek Singh MeitY, the NITI Frontier Tech Repository showcased by Ms Sachi Chopra, AI-enabled soil diagnostics, Sindhudurg as India’s first fully AI-enabled district under a state-owned SPV model and PadhaiWithAI in Tonk district improving Class 10 Mathematics outcomes. Under Frontier 50, AI Digital Intelligence and Telecom infrastructure are integrated through a phygital model with Samriddhi Kendras as assisted digital access points. This was also an opportunity for Districts to present their technology-driven interventions in addressing thematic challenges in their Districts and Blocks.

Towards the conclusion, NITI Aayog emphasised micro-localisation, interoperable district data stacks, measurable outcomes and accountable leadership.

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