The Kerala Assembly got tech-savvy on Monday with Speaker G Karthikeyan ruling that members may use laptops and iPads inside the Assembly.
The ruling came on a point of order moved by T N Prathapan of the Congress on whether laptops and iPads were allowed in the House. He had raised the doubt last week when CPM’s T M Thomas Isaac used an iPad during his speech. A similar point of order had popped up in the House on March 13, 2007, when Prathapan himself used a laptop.
At the time, it was announced that the Speaker would issue a special ruling on the issue. “We are living in a hi-tech age, so the Chair does not have the opinion it is right to turn your back to such innovations. But they should not be misused inside the House,” Speaker said on Monday.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan welcomed the ruling.