Govt launches free software for editing text on scanned images

The IT ministry today launched a desktop software e-Aksharayan to enable editing of text printed on scanned documents and it can be downloaded for free from its website.

"e-Aksharayan is a desktop software for converting scanned printed Indian language documents into a fully editable text format in Unicode encoding. The text can be also saved separately," Swaran Lata, programme head and director technology Development for Indian Languages (TDIL) said after unveiling the software at a FICCI event.

The software supports editing in seven Indian languages - Hindi, Bangla, Malayalam, Gurmukhi, Tamil, Kannada & Assamese.

There exist some gap in Internet accessibility and 90 per cent of the gap is due to non-availability of content in Indian languages, Electronics and IT Secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney, at the event organised to push development of content in local languages, said.

"We all know about India Stack. We should now come up with 'India Language Stack', which will help in overcoming the barriers of communication," Sawhney said.

Creator of email services in local scripts, Data Xgenplus Managing Director Ajay Data said that he is working with global Internet body ICANN on technology that will allow people to select complete name of website in any script.

Google Public Policy Chetan Krishnaswamy, Director, Public Policy, Google said that there is need to localise Indic languages and find ways to incorporate it to the internet.

"Hindi voice search is growing at 400 per cent year on year. The consumption of local language is increasing. By 2021, Indic language users will grow at a CAGR of 18 per cent to reach 536 million from current 234 million. English users will grow at 3 per cent Y-o-Y to 199 million," Krishnaswamy said.

He said that the industry with Ficci will approach the government to incentivise content developers in Indian languages.

There is a need to device ecosystem in expanding the horizons of Indic Internet to global markets, Pankaj Mohindroo, National President, Indian Cellular Association said.

"All of us should work towards making India multilingual in order to integrate with the rest of the world," he added.