Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey speaks during the launch of the beta version of Adi Vaani app and website. Picture: X/@TribalAffairsIn
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs on Monday (September 1, 2025) launched the beta version of its Adi Vaani Adivasi language translation application and website at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi, with Minister of State Durgadas Uikey saying that it will “help bridge communication gaps for tribal communities in remote areas and empower tribal youth digitally”.
The government, in a statement, called it a “landmark initiative towards inclusive tribal empowerment and linguistic preservation”.
The app, which has been in development for over a year now, has capabilities to translate Adivasi languages to and from Hindi and English. In its first phase, the supported languages include Gondi, Bhili, Mundari, Santali, Kui, and Garo.
The government said that while the app is currently equipped to translate the first four languages, support for Kui and Garo will be added soon.
Officials have said that the app will be available on both the Android and Apple stores soon. In a statement issued on Monday night, Mr. Uikey added that the app will also “support” the Ministry’s Adi Karmayogi initiative to train as many as 20 lakh village-level volunteers and community leaders.
Feedback mechanism
Tribal Affairs Secretary Vibhu Nayar noted that the initiative was “frugal innovation” that was built at “one-tenth” the cost of commercial platforms, adding that this project “integrates cutting-edge technology with authentic linguistic data collected by State Tribal Research Institutes”. He also said that the platform has a built-in feedback mechanism so that it can be improved on the go.
Published – September 02, 2025 12:59 am IST
