Karnataka Legislative Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri expressed regret that he could not implement e-Vidhan system in the Secretariat due to ‘non-cooperative mindset’ of the bureaucracy.
He blamed both the government and the bureaucratic system for the delay in having a ‘digital legislature’, implementation of ‘e-Vidhan’ project.
E-Vidhan aims at making the State legislature sessions paperless, which would save a lot of public money. The process of rolling out e-Vidhan started in 2014 when a team of officials from Karnataka visited Himachal Pradesh to study the process.
Mr. Kageri, who completed two years in office, was speaking to mediapersons after releasing a book that highlighted the achievements of the Assembly and its Secretariat.
“I tried my level best to see that the e-Vidhan system is implemented in the Assembly Secretariat. But I could not due to the non-cooperative mindset of the bureaucracy. This has been pending from 2014. Bengaluru is called the ‘IT capital of India’ but in this IT capital, the Assembly does not have an e-Vidhan system. I wish and hope that the bureaucracy undergoes transformation in their mindset,” the Speaker said.
The Speaker pointed to the report submitted by the Policy Research Institute, which had acknowledged and judged Karnataka Assembly as the best in India. “In spite of the pandemic, we have held 54 days of proceedings,” he said.
The Speaker announced that there is a proposal to give the ‘Best Legislator’ award for which a committee of officers has been constituted and guidelines are being framed.
On the debate on ‘one nation, one election’, Mr Kageri said, “The debate should not be confined to the legislature, but needs to take place among the public in the society.”