Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that the government will provide free Artificial Intelligence (AI) training to approximately 5.5 lakh village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs). This initiative is part of the broader IndiaAI Mission, which aims to equip 10 lakh people with AI skills. Vaishnaw highlighted that VLEs will be given priority in this training program.

Vaishnaw made this announcement at the 16th foundation day of the Common Service Centre (CSC). He noted that VLEs are currently present in nearly 90% of villages across the country, delivering essential government and digital services. The Minister urged more village-level entrepreneurs to participate in the AI training program.

The IndiaAI Mission, approved last year with a budgetary outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, aims to catalyze AI innovation throughout the country. The mission seeks to democratize access to computing infrastructure, improve data quality, develop indigenous AI capabilities, and attract top AI talent. By providing AI training to VLEs, the government intends to empower these grassroots entrepreneurs with advanced digital skills, thereby enhancing the reach and impact of the CSC network in rural and semi-urban India.

In May of this year, the IT Ministry reported that India's national compute capacity had surpassed 34,000 GPUs. This infrastructure will provide a common computational AI platform for training and inference, which is crucial for developing indigenous foundational models and AI solutions tailored to the domestic context.

Vaishnaw also mentioned that he would personally discuss merging various state-level CSCs with the chief ministers of states to provide unified, integrated services. He believes this will benefit the country by streamlining services and improving efficiency.

The CSC Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) was established in 2006 under MeitY with the vision of delivering digital services to the last mile and creating a robust ICT-based network across India. Each CSC is managed by a VLE, a local resident who serves as the digital and.

Furthermore, Vaishnaw encouraged VLEs to register with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to begin booking railway tickets. He also mentioned that the government would consider resuming Aadhaar-related services at CSCs.

Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada brought to the minister's attention the demand from CSC VLEs to merge state-based government services centers with CSCs, suggesting it would provide them with higher income opportunities. Vaishnaw assured that he would discuss the possibility of this merger with state governments.

During the event, Vaishnaw acknowledged the efforts of VLEs by calling on stage two women VLEs, Manjulata Chattar from Odisha and Rose Angeline M Kharsyntiew from Meghalaya, to recognize their contributions to providing government services in remote villages.