MUMBAI—India's Maharashtra Legislature has moved to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), advancing plans to digitize legislative proceedings under the federal government's Digital India programme, officials said after a high-level meeting on July 16.
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said representatives of the ministry, the Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat and the Maharashtra government's Department of Parliamentary Affairs agreed to expedite the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding, a step required before the project can be formally implemented in the state.
According to the ministry, the discussions at Mumbai's Vidhan Bhawan focused on the implementation roadmap, including software deployment, technical infrastructure, institutional preparedness, funding arrangements, capacity building, project timelines and the responsibilities of participating agencies. Officials said questions related to software functionality, technical support and training were addressed during the meeting.
Dr. Satya Prakash, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Mission Leader for NeVA, attended the meeting along with senior officials from the Maharashtra Legislature and the state government, the ministry said.
NeVA is a Mission Mode Project of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs designed to provide a unified digital platform for all state and union territory legislatures. The system enables legislators to access notices, questions, bills and other legislative business electronically, supporting paperless proceedings while improving access to legislative documents.
The ministry said implementation of the project in Maharashtra, covering both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council in Mumbai and Nagpur, is estimated to cost about 4.8 billion rupees. Officials said the initiative is intended to help legislators perform their duties more efficiently while improving public access to legislative proceedings and documents.
The federal government said 33 state and union territory legislatures have now signed memoranda of understanding for NeVA, while 21 legislatures are already conducting business in fully digital mode. Maharashtra's adoption would represent another expansion of the nationwide programme, according to the ministry.
Officials said the meeting concluded with consensus to accelerate completion of the agreement so implementation can begin. No timeline for signing the memorandum or launching the platform in Maharashtra was formally announced.
