Delhi Assembly may go paperless soon

A draft project report estimating a cost of ₹17.79 crore was submitted to the ministry of information and technology in October 2015.

Faced with repeated delays in implementation of the Centre’s project for paperless legislative assemblies in the country, the Delhi Vidhan Sabha has decided to implement the initiative on its own with financial help of ₹20 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

The Delhi Vidhan Sabha has decided to implement the initiative on its own with financial help of ₹20 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/ Hindustan Times) (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

The general purposes committee (GPC) of Delhi Assembly in its report has said that the project, NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application), for all legislatures across the country has been “badly delayed” and hence the Assembly should implement it from the funds provided by the AAP government. The GPC report was tabled and adopted in the recently concluded budget session of the state assembly.

“The Assembly Secretariat has sought ₹20 crore in the budget estimates of 2019-20. The project will be modified to best suit the need of the Delhi Assembly and its members,” said the report. A Delhi Assembly Secretariat official said the government has allocated the required sum in the budget for 2019-20.

The project will involve information and technology department of Delhi government and National Informatics Centre (NIC), it said. The project will completely remove the need for use of paper in all the business transacted by the Parliament and state assemblies.

The NeVA project was implemented in Himachal Pradesh on pilot basis. A sub-committee of Delhi Assembly’s GPC had visited Himachal Assembly in October 2015 to have a first-hand knowledge of the project. The GPC had approved implementation of ‘e-Vidhan’ in Delhi Assembly and recommended adoption of Himachal model, said the report.

A draft project report estimating a cost of ₹17.79 crore was submitted to the ministry of information and technology in October 2015.

“But, later the project was transferred to the ministry of parliamentary affairs… The ministry was of the view that once all legislatures have adopted ‘NeVA’, funds for infrastructure would be released in phases,” said the GPC report.