Himachal Assembly Becomes the First to Implement National e-Vidhan Application

Dharamsala, Dec 18 (NationPress) After India's pioneering paperless e-Vidhan Sabha that enabled the state to save Rs 15 crore annually, the Himachal Pradesh legislative Assembly on Wednesday emerged as the first to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) under the Central government’s “One Nation, One Application” initiative.

NeVA is a mission-driven project aimed at creating digital legislatures that will facilitate paperless operations across all legislative Houses in the country.

All legislative activities in the Assembly have now transitioned to a digital format, allowing members and government officials to conduct all governmental operations electronically, as announced by Speaker Kuldeep Pathania on the first day of the winter session in Dharamsala, the state’s winter capital.

He noted that the state Assembly was the first in India to become paperless on August 4, 2014, during the tenure of the late Congress veteran and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Speaker Pathania credited his predecessor B.B.L. Butail for implementing the e-Vidhan Sabha with financial support from the Central government amounting to Rs 8.16 crore.

He added that the launch of the paperless Assembly is expected to save approximately 10-15 tons of paper each year.

Pathania mentioned that the introduction of NeVA, for which the Centre allocated Rs 8.31 crore in 2023, will lead to significant changes in governance, enlightening citizens and solidifying the foundations of democracy.

“With the debut of NeVA, citizens will be able to observe the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha from their homes,” stated Speaker Pathania, adding that a proposal for Rs 4 crore has been submitted to the Centre to convert the Assembly in Shimla into NeVA.

Leader of the House and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu remarked that the e-Vidhan Sabha system has been operational since 2016, and “now we are transitioning to the national system. Today, the system being rolled out nationwide had its beginnings in Himachal. By adopting this, citizens from across the country will be able to view the workings of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha.”

Sukhu also noted that the government has recently celebrated two years in office. He praised the Prime Minister's vision for Digital India. “The e-Vidhan Sabha was inaugurated in Shimla, while the national NeVA is being launched in Dharamsala.” He expressed gratitude to his predecessor Jai Ram Thakur for presenting the state’s e-budget during his term.

Opposition Leader Thakur stated that the e-Vidhan Sabha has been operational in the state for some time. “Now, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative, the national e-Vidhan system is being implemented across the country.”

Discussing its advantages, he said, “There’s no longer a need to search for papers. Now, even the budget is presented digitally.”

BJP leader Thakur, who previously held the finance portfolio, asserted that he was the first Chief Minister to lay out the e-Budget on March 6, 2020.