Bengal Assembly to go paperless; Om Birla to train first-time MLAs: Speaker

The West Bengal Legislative Assembly will become paperless in the near future under the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project, Speaker Rathindranath Bose announced on Thursday. He said training programmes would be organised for legislators to facilitate the transition to a digital legislative system, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla would visit the state to participate in the training process.

West Bengal has joined the Centre's National e-Vidhan Application project, which seeks to connect Parliament and all state and union territory legislatures through a unified digital platform. Following the change in government, the state administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central Government to implement the system. The initiative aims to digitise legislative procedures and reduce dependence on paper-based processes.

The Speaker said a large number of first-time legislators had been elected to the Assembly and would receive formal training after the Budget Session. According to him, around 200 new MLAs will participate in the programme. Apart from Om Birla, the Speakers of the Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Legislative Assemblies are also expected to visit West Bengal to assist in the training sessions.

Reiterating the plan to establish an e-Assembly, Bose said digital systems would soon be introduced for legislative work. He stated that the transition would make Assembly information more accessible to citizens and improve transparency in legislative functioning. The initiative is intended to enable easier public access to proceedings and official records.

Under the NeVA platform, legislators will be able to submit notices, file questions, move proposals and motions, and access legislative documents electronically. The system will also allow citizens to follow legislative proceedings, watch live Assembly sessions, and submit suggestions and opinions through the digital platform.