India, Portugal to Set Up Joint Working Group on AI-Driven Governance Reforms

Highlighting India’s administrative reform trajectory over the past decade, Dr. Singh noted that nearly 2,000 obsolete rules, many dating back to the colonial era, had been scrapped to improve citizen services.

India and Portugal have agreed to establish a joint working mechanism on administrative reforms and digital governance, with a focus on deploying Artificial Intelligence in public services, signalling a shift toward structured bilateral cooperation.

The understanding emerged during delegation-level talks between Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, and Portugal’s Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister and of State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, who is in New Delhi for the AI Impact Summit 2026.

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Working Group to Identify Priority Areas

Dr. Jitendra Singh proposed the creation of a working group to identify priority areas for collaboration, including:

• Digital pension systems

• Grievance redressal platforms

• AI-enabled document processing

• Training exchanges and technical sharing

“We can identify areas of mutual benefit and begin with specific, scalable models,” he said, emphasising practical and outcome-driven cooperation.

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India’s Governance Reform Model Showcased

Highlighting India’s administrative reform trajectory over the past decade, Dr. Singh noted that nearly 2,000 obsolete rules, many dating back to the colonial era, had been scrapped to improve citizen services.

Key reforms include:

• Abolition of mandatory attestation by gazetted officers

• Elimination of interview-based recruitment for certain categories to reduce discretion

• Introduction of simplified single-page digital forms replacing complex multi-copy paperwork

He also pointed to India’s AI-assisted grievance redressal mechanism, operating under a hybrid model that combines AI-led sorting with human oversight, achieving close to 95% disposal rates.

Additionally, India has digitised pension processing end-to-end and expanded biometric and facial authentication systems for life certificates, benefiting millions of pensioners annually.

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Portugal’s “Simplification First” Approach

Gonçalo Matias outlined Portugal’s parallel reform strategy built on the principle of “simplification first, digitalisation next.”

“There is no point in digitalising what is complex. If we digitalise complexity, we create another layer of bureaucracy,” he said.

Portugal is currently revising core public procurement, construction and licensing codes before embedding AI into decision-making systems. While AI will accelerate document processing, final decisions will remain subject to mandatory human ratification.

Portugal is also investing public funds to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in adopting AI technologies, particularly after recent climate events damaged industrial units in the country’s central region.

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Expanding Cooperation Beyond Governance

On the multilateral front, Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted India’s recent anti-corruption initiatives within the G20 framework, including efforts to address women-centric corruption risks and economic fugitives exploiting jurisdictional gaps.

He also referenced India’s recent election to a leadership role at the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, underscoring global recognition of its governance reforms.

Beyond digital governance, both sides discussed:

• Trade and technology partnerships

• Academic exchanges

• Science and technology collaboration

• Expediting the third meeting of the senior consultative body under the existing MoU on public administration and governance reforms

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Deepening India–Portugal Institutional Alignment

The meeting comes as India and Portugal marked 50 years of re-established diplomatic ties in 2025.

With both governments prioritising administrative simplification and AI-enabled governance, the talks signal a move from ceremonial engagement toward practical institutional alignment, reinforcing cooperation between the two democracies in building modern, transparent and citizen-centric governance systems.