Soon, the state Legislative Assembly will go completely paperless with the state government undertaking an initiative to digitise all records. This is expected to save around `35 crore to `49 crore annually and time as the state has been spending around `40 crore for taking tonnes of paper printouts. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 14 months.
The state has awarded the work to the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society and it has started working on the ambitious project called E-Vidhan to enable the state legislature to go completely paperless, said Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan.
“The project is expected to cost around `40 crore. Though the first phase can be executed in the stipulated time, it would take around two years to completely go paperless for all the departments connected to the Assembly,” he said.
Once the project is completed, all the Assembly proceedings like submission of notice by a member, question and answers, and all the other correspondence and business concerning the Assembly will go paperless.
The Assembly handles hundreds of various committee reports, Bills, notices, and various other reports which demands massive paperwork. So this project will completely get rid of paper in all the business transacted by the Assembly. Besides, the functioning of various departments linked to the Assembly and library will also be made paperless as part of the project, he said.
On why the state-owned Keltron was not considered for the execution of the project, the Speaker said Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society was given the contract based on an expression of interest submitted by the society. On whether there were any other companies that evinced expression of interest for the project, he said only ULCCS has submitted the proposal.
Though the state has sought Central aid to execute the project earlier, the project is now being executed by the state-owned fund.
Getting rid of printouts
E-Vidhan will ensure all the state legislatures to go paperless. The state has been spending around D40 crore for taking tonnes of paper printouts. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 14 months