Bengal Assembly to go fully digital in four months: Rijiju

Kolkata: West Bengal assembly will be completely digitized in 3-4 months, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Friday in Kolkata. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also stressed on the need of digitization of the West Bengal Assembly and said how the assembly still resorts to archaic “paper slip” instead of “electronic voting system”.

While addressing a training program for new MLAs at a programme in Kolkata, organized by West Bengal Legislative Assembly in collaboration with PRIDE, Lok Sabha organized an “Orientation Programme on Legislative Business for the Members of 18th Legislative Assembly” and PRIDE on 3-4 July, Rijiju said, "We have already released the funds for the first phase. With "One Nation, One APPLICATION App.” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and many other dignitaries were present at the programme.

“Once the digital transition is complete, every MLA will have access to all the Assembly information at their fingertips with just one click,” the minister said. “We have already released the funds for the first phase. Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced this National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) program. The goal is to bring all the Assemblies and Legislative Councils across the country onto a single platform".


The West Bengal Assembly joined this initiative and the implementation process has already begun. “We will be sending an official team from my ministry and extend all support, including manpower. The West Bengal Assembly is a historic one,” the Union Minister said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari criticised both the Left Front and Trinamool Congress regimes for following the old system in regard to Assembly proceedings and averse attitude from adopting modern digital technologies.

“Voting is still done on paper slips here. There is no electronic voting system. The infrastructure of the Assembly needs to be digitized and modernized. We have introduced Live telecast of the assembly proceedings after coming to power. West Bengal will lead the country again.”