J&K Assembly to go paperless

325 tablets being procured; 95 for MLAs, 230 for installation in House

Jammu Tawi, Jun 23: The Jammu & Kashmir Assembly is set to go paperless, with 325 high-end tablets being purchased for legislators as well as for installation inside the House.

As per details available, the National Informatics Centre Services Incorporated (NICSI), which handles IT procurement and services for the government, has floated tenders for the purchase of tablets and other IT equipment for the J&K Assembly under the Government of India’s ambitious National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project.

According to details, 95 tablets are being procured for the use of MLAs outside the House. The total strength of the J&K Assembly is 95, including 90 elected MLAs and five nominated MLAs. The five nominated seats are currently vacant.

In addition to the 95 tablets for MLAs, 230 tablets are being purchased for mounting on the seats of MLAs in the House in both Srinagar and Jammu as well as in some offices of the Assembly.

The high-level committee headed by the Speaker has recommended the procurement of Samsung tablets. “The high-level apex committee chaired by the Speaker of the J&K Assembly has approved the purchase of Samsung tablets for installation inside the House and for the official use of MLAs, as they are technically suitable, meet the required quality standards, and have service centers available in both Jammu and Srinagar,” the documents state.

The procurement of tablets is expected to cost around Rs 5 crore.

The NeVA is a flagship initiative of the Government of India under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, aimed at making legislative assemblies and Parliament paperless.