HYDERABAD: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday affirmed that his party continues to be part of the INDIA bloc.
His statement assumes significance as Uttar Pradesh is set to go to the Assembly polls in less than two years. He was speaking to the media after attending the VISION INDIA: Plan, Develop & Ascent summit here in the city.
He underlined the need to anchor artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the constitutional values of equality and social justice, arguing that technology must serve as an instrument of inclusive and egalitarian development rather than deepen existing divides.
He said the Constitution teaches equality and equal justice, and these principles must guide the government’s approach to emerging technologies. “Social justice should translate into equal justice. AI policies must ensure that opportunities created by technology reach everyone, including rural India,” he said, adding that the BJP would be defeated with the help of AI.
The VISION INDIA initiative, which describes itself as a nationwide series of summits and conferences, aims to plan India’s future by identifying sectoral challenges and opportunities.
Recalling that laptops were distributed during the SP government’s tenure to widen access to technology, Akhilesh Yadav stressed the need to bridge the digital divide. He called for a unified national policy to ensure that the benefits of AI in agriculture, medicine, urban planning and governance reach the grassroots.
“Farmers can benefit from satellite mapping and data-driven advisories on water usage. If credible data is available, governments can frame better policies,” he said.
He also pitched for building a strong start-up ecosystem and said inputs from such platforms would be taken into account while shaping future programmes for a “New India”. However, he cautioned against the misuse of AI, noting that cyber fraud has emerged as a major challenge and that deepfake videos are increasingly being mistaken for truth, with serious political and social consequences.