Hyderabad: The services of the AI-powered chatbot, Mitra-TG, created to arrest the drug menace in Telangana will soon be expanded statewide, said finance minister M Bhatti Vikramarka, while presenting the budget on Wednesday. Currently, the pilot of the WhatsApp chatbot is available in 1,000 schools — govt and private schools — across the Hyderabad region.
Developed by the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB), along with the IT department, Mitra-TG, enables parents and teachers to identify early behavioural indicators of drug use among students, allowing them timely intervention.
“Around 60% of the schools where it is being used are govt schools. The rest are private, corporate institutions,” a TGANB official told TOI.
Here’s how it works. Parents and teachers are provided a link to the interactive chatbot that can help them analyse the behavioural patterns of their children based on a series of AI-generated questions regarding their age, sleeping pattern, food habits, academic scores and socialising skills among other things. The bot currently caters to children under the age of 18.
“The bot generates questions based on the user’s previous responses, finally providing an understanding of the current situation of the child. It also advises on corrective measures that can be taken, including professional intervention, clinical support, etc.,” said an official associated with the bot. While teachers have already started using the bot, nothing significant has been found so far, the official added.
The chatbot was launched by IT minister D Sridhar Babu in December 2024. After its launch, DEOs, MEOs, and teachers from across the state were trained on using the chatbot. The bot went live in February 2025.
“During their interactions with parents, teachers have been sharing the bot details with parents so that they can keep track of their child’s behaviour and seek assistance if required at an early stage,” added the official.
