Bhubaneswar: Heading for a major makeover, the Odisha Assembly will soon appear in an all new high-tech avatar when it follows in the footsteps of Himachal Pradesh State Legislature to go “paperless” in a few months time. The project will be implemented under the Centre’s ambitious e-Vidhan project to make legislatures 'One Nation One Application'.
Recently, a team of House Committee of Odisha Assembly led by Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro visited different branches of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly and discussed various aspects pertaining to implementation of e-Vidhan project.
Once the e-Vidhan project is implemented, decade-old manual system of sending out written replies and notifications, preparing reports, bills and copies of documents on paper will become a thing of past, informed Patro.
Speaking on the proposed developments under the new project, the Assembly Speaker said, “The four-seater arrangement blocks in the House will be replaced by two-seater systems. Computer screens will be fitted in front of the legislators which will display all questions, answers, notices regarding proceedings of the House. This apart, a special app will also be designed for MLAs through which they can easily access details of the Assembly, list of business, bulletins and committee meetings."
It may be noted that the e-Vidhan is a sophisticated e-governance solution that fully automates the functioning of legislative assembly and significantly minimize paper usage with online communication.
On whether tech-driven new system of lawmaking in the Assembly will affect legislators who are not so accustomed to use of technology, senior BJD leader Debi Mishra said, "It has already been implemented in Himachal Pradesh so I don’t think it will cause any problems.”
Opposition leaders too have welcomed the new move. BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling said, “New legislators who use tech more than others may get easily used to it but senior members who are not so accustomed, may find it difficult. But nevertheless it will help reduce cost worth crores of rupees incurred in the proceedings of the House.”