Workshop on Indian language machine translation held at KU

Srinagar, Mar 2: To advance research in Indian-language-to-Indian-language (IL-IL) machine translation, the University of Kashmir (KU), in collaboration with the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT-Hyderabad), organised a four-day workshop on Developing IL-IL Benchmark Data at the varsity from February 25 to 28, 2025.

The workshop, part of the HIMANGY (Hindustani Machini Anuvaad Technology) consortium under the broader BHASHINI Project funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, aimed to create benchmark datasets for enhancing machine translation accuracy in multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Telugu, Kashmiri, Kannada, Gujarati, Sindhi, Dogri, Odia, Punjabi, Urdu, and English.

Vice Chancellor KU, Prof Nilofer Khan, in her remarks, highlighted the significance of the initiative in strengthening AI-driven language technologies.

“Developing robust benchmark datasets is crucial for improving machine translation systems and fostering linguistic inclusivity in the digital era. This initiative aligns with the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary research in Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing,” she said.

Prof Dipti Mishra from IIIT-Hyderabad emphasised the importance of building strong linguistic benchmarks to support digital inclusivity for Indian languages.

“Ensuring representation of diverse languages in machine translation will bridge communication gaps and make digital content more accessible,” she said.

Prof Aadil Amin Kak, Head of the Department of Linguistics, KU, stressed the workshop’s role in ensuring greater visibility for Kashmiri in the digital space and said that such initiatives would help break linguistic barriers and enhance communication across different language communities.