MeitY empanels six tech firms including TCS and CoRover for Government AI Mission

Oh, brilliant. India's Ministry of Electronics and IT has empanelled six tech firms—including the usual behemoth TCS and the plucky AI startup CoRover—to deploy AI across government departments. The clever bit? Ministries can now engage these chosen few directly, bypassing the tedious business of tenders and competitive bidding. Because nothing says 'accountable governance' like a closed shop of approved vendors, handpicked for their ability to, presumably, navigate the corridors of power rather than deliver the best tech.

The Government AI Mission, it seems, runs on trust—specifically, the trust that TCS and CoRover will play nice while taxpayer money flows through a streamlined pipeline. No need for pesky public procurement processes when you have an 'empanelment framework' that lets ministers pick their favourite consultants without breaking a sweat. One imagines the other four firms are equally thrilled to be part of this exclusive club, where the biggest risk isn't failing to deliver—it's failing to maintain the right connections.

All of this is, of course, presented as a bold leap into the future: AI for the people, delivered by the few. The irony that this closed-door approach to AI deployment mirrors the very opacity AI is supposed to help fix seems lost on MeitY. But hey, at least it's efficient—efficiently funnelling contracts to the usual suspects, without all that boring transparency getting in the way. Chai, anyone?