# Delhi govt partners with EkStep to make data AI-ready 2026-08-25T17:38:38+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Delhi government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the EkStep Foundation to convert its administrative data into an AI-ready format, aiming to improve governance and public service delivery. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said data systems must be interconnected so that the benefits of artificial intelligence reach ordinary citizens. The initiative, called Data DHARA (Data Harnessed for AI-Ready Advancements), is an open-source methodology based on digital public infrastructure. A toolkit and vision paper were launched at a workshop attended by senior officials. The government plans to use AI-ready data to improve delivery of schemes such as Matru Vandana and Delhi Lakhpati Bitiya, and to help identify eligible beneficiaries and connect them with services. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The Delhi government holds large datasets on citizens, beneficiaries, workers, students, health, education and employment, but these are often siloed across departments and not in machine-readable formats. By adopting EkStep's open-source framework, Delhi joins a growing push by state governments to build digital public infrastructure for governance. The key challenge ahead is the actual integration of legacy databases and the training of department staff to use the new tools. The success of the Data DHARA toolkit will be measured by how many departments begin uploading structured, AI-ready datasets by the next review deadline. ## Coverage - rediff.com Straight news agency-style reporting, no slant. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Artificial intelligence, Data DHARA, Delhi government, EkStep Foundation, Rekha Gupta Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/delhi-govt-partners-with-ekstep-to-make-data-ai-ready/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/delhi-govt-partners-with-ekstep-to-make-data-ai-ready/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/