Maharashtra legislature to adopt Centre's NeVA digital platform; rollout planned in three months

Mumbai, Jul 16 (PTI) The Maharashtra legislature has decided to adopt the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), the Centre's integrated digital platform for legislative business, with the system expected to become fully operational in the state within the next three months, officials said. The decision was taken at a meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan here on Thursday following an earlier high-level meeting attended by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil. A presentation on the NeVA platform was made by officials of the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and the Maharashtra legislature secretariat. According to an official release, the meeting reviewed the objectives, implementation process, institutional benefits, technical aspects and provisions of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which will be signed after the chief minister's approval. NeVA, developed by the Union Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, is an integrated digital platform aimed at modernising legislative functioning, improving efficiency and enabling paperless legislatures across the country under the 'One Nation, One Application' initiative. "MoUs have already been signed for 33 of the country's 37 legislative Houses, including legislative assemblies and councils, where the platform is operational. The remaining legislatures are in the final stages of implementation," the release said. The Maharashtra project is estimated to cost Rs 80 crore and will be funded by the Centre and the state in a 60:40 ratio. The project will cover the Assembly and Legislative Council in both Mumbai and Nagpur. Once implemented, members of the Maharashtra legislature will have digital access to proceedings, debates, rules, Bills, questions, committee reports and other documents of Parliament as well as legislatures across the country through a single platform. "The initiative would improve information sharing, enhance transparency and efficiency in legislative functioning, and accelerate the digital transformation of the Maharashtra legislature," it said. PTI MR BNM