Chandigarh: The Punjab State Food Commission organized an interactive session with Artificial Intelligence expert Nipun Syal to explore how emerging technologies can make the implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013 more transparent, efficient and citizen-centric in Punjab besides assisting the Commission in its functioning.
Presiding over the session, Chairman of the Commission Mr. Bal Mukund Sharma said the Commission is mandated to monitor NFSA implementation, review grievances, and advise the State Government on policy improvements. “We are looking at AI as a tool to move from reactive monitoring to real-time, data-driven oversight,” he stated.
Addressing the Commission, Mr. Nipun Syal explained specific areas where AI can support the Commission’s functioning. He said AI-enabled analytics can process FPS-level e-POS transaction data daily to identify abnormal patterns such as low dispatches, inactive Fair Price Shops, or mismatch between allocated and distributed foodgrains. This will help the Commission flag issues early and seek timely corrective action.
He further noted that Machine Learning models can help improve beneficiary data integrity by detecting probable duplicates, inclusion and exclusion errors through secure cross-referencing with authenticated datasets. For grievance redressal, AI-powered multilingual chatbots and voice assistants in Punjabi can enable 24×7 complaint registration.
Among others present on the occasion included the Members of the Commission Jasvir Singh Sekhon, Vijay Dutt, Chetan Parkash Dhaliwal and Member Secretary Kanu Thind.
