Ipads given to all MLAs, Delhi Assembly to go paperless now

All MLAs have been provided with iPads during the current budget session.

From submitting questions to tabling bills, all legislature work in the Delhi assembly will go digital from the next assembly session. To that end, the assembly has asked all departments to submit answers to questions raised in the House as PDF files from the next session, officials in the know of the matter said.

Under the automation project, the assembly has been equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity that will enable the legislators to attend the proceedings uninterrupted. (PTI)

In the budget session that concluded on Tuesday, while the budget was tabled in the PDF format and copies of the budget speech and related documents also shared with legislators as PDF files, the answers to questions raised in the assembly were given as hard copies.

“Delhi legislative assembly will be completely paperless now. All documents and bills will be tabled in e-paper format. Lakhs of pages used during the proceedings of the assembly will now be presented as soft copies,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Tuesday.

All MLAs have been provided with iPads during the current budget session.

“This will be a step towards making the assembly smart and efficient. This web-based solution will not only help us speed up official processes, but also save on the tonnes of papers being used here for each and every proceeding,” Sisodia said.

The automation project will enable digital submission and tracking of questions, access information on bills online, monitor work at the assembly, and also track the attendance of legislators. A virtual assembly software will be used, in case of an emergency, for legislators to attend the session remotely.

HT on February 29 reported that the Delhi assembly was likely to go paperless this year.

AAP MLA Somnath Bharti on Tuesday said that he had requested on June 29, 2015, to make the assembly paperless.