TDIL Programme:A Government Initiative

India is a country with huge population of over hundred and twenty crore, who speak different languages. Only 5% of Indian population can effectively communicate in English and rest 95% are comfortable with their regional languages and are deprived of the benefits of information technology. To penetrate the benefits of Communication and Information Technology up to common masses, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, initiated a Programme known as Technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL). The objective of the programme is to develop Information Processing Tools and Techniques to facilitate human-machine interaction without language barrier; to create and access multilingual knowledge resources; and integrate them to develop innovative user products and services. This paper surveys the various initiatives taken under TDIL for the promotion of Communication and Information Technology in Indian Languages. We are also providing an introductory list of tools/products developed by different institutions for Indian languages.