In green push, Delhi assembly likely to go paperless this year
Bids to choose a company to implement the project will be opened on March 9, and the work is likely to be awarded to the selected firm within a month, officials said.
The Delhi assembly is likely to go paperless this year with the process of submitting questions and notices by MLAs to tabling and passage of legislative Bills, everything going digital as the House is set to roll out its ambitious automation project soon, officials aware of the matter said.
Bids to choose a company to implement the project will be opened on March 9, and the work is likely to be awarded to the selected firm within a month, the officials said.
Under the project, fixed screens will be installed on the tables of all members which will help them navigate through the list of business, find answers to their questions, etc. The project also seeks to create a facility to enable the MLAs to attend the assembly proceedings virtually (without visiting the assembly).
Currently, operations in the Delhi assembly are mostly manual and based on exchange of papers. Members often find it difficult manage the huge volume of documents.
To be sure, Delhi is not the first assembly to go paperless.In 2014, the Himachal Pradesh assembly went paperless, and Jharkhand assembly shifted to digital processes in 2019.
The automation is designed to improve the overall efficiency of the operations and enhance participation of stakeholders. The Speaker will have a digital book to chat with ministers and officers of the House, the officials said.
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said they were targeting to finish the project by June 2022. “If MLAs need training, we will provide them necessary training to easily switch over to the new system,” said Goel.
In order to manage the questions put up by MLAs, a digital process management facility will be created, the officials said. Currently, the question branch of the House manages the documents pertaining to queries by the legislators, and keep a record. “A digital process is needed to handle the tedious activity. It will make it easier to track the progress and status of each question,” an official said.
In the paperless assembly, each member of the House will be able to track the entire journey of a legislative Bill -- from the point where it is presented in the assembly to its passage. Each bill entails a long paper trail and the automation project will make it easier for members to read it, form their questions and track a particular Bill and the amendments made to it, the officials said.
In the digital House, the members will also be able to submit their notices to the secretariat from anywhere. They will also be able to submit their questions digitally, for which each member will be assigned a fingerprint-based biometric password to make the process safe and convenient. The same password will also be used by the members to cast their vote on a motion.
“It will reduce the need for manual records and register maintenance and enable the members to get accurate information relating to their constituency such as development works and projects. It will have a dynamic search engine which will generate several reports at the click of a button. It will auto compile reports and queries. Overall, it will provide electronic security and control of confidential data,” the officials said.
The House secretary will get a live chat facility to communicate with the members that will eliminate the current practice of sending paper chits to the MLAs. There will also be a digital book for the media to provide them the relevant information.
“It is a welcome move, but for the success of the automation of an assembly or Parliament every member must be conversant with the technology involved. Some automation has also been done in the Parliament. It will definitely increase the efficiency of the House by making different records, and information available to the members at the click of a button,” said PDT Achary, former Lok Sabha general secretary.