Odisha Assembly to be paperless, says Vidhan Sabha speaker

Odisha has taken the decision to adopt the green governance format called "e-Vidhan" to switch to a paperless assembly, said Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro on Wednesday.

"We have taken the decision to upgrade the Odisha Vidhansabha into e-Vidhansabha, and work has already started on this front. Recently, our MLAs visited Himachal Pradesh where e-Vidhansabha is already functioning. After that we started executing the process here, we have given order to NIC in this regard. Along with Wi-Fi, we are going to make all arrangement and changes like infrastructure to move towards the paperless concept," Patro told ANI here.

The Odisha speaker added that a committee has been formed to invite tenders and the Centre has been requested to impart training to the MLAs and staff about the system.

"A Committee has also been formed under the head of the secretary, works department and finance secretary to invite tenders. Meanwhile, we have sanctioned Rs 1 lakh to each MLA to purchase a laptop and also requested the Government of India to provide training to MLAs and staff about the system," Patro said.

"e-Vidhan" is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) included in Digital India Programme and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the nodal ministry for its implementation in all the states and Union Territories with legislatures.

The funding for e-Vidhan is provided by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The format for paperless assembly has already been adopted by Himachal Pradesh.