The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is organizing a two-day National Workshop on the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) on May 24th and 25th, 2023, at the Convention Hall of The Hotel Ashok in New Delhi. The workshop aims to encourage all State/UT Legislatures to adopt the NeVA platform and utilize technology to bring transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to their House business.
NeVA is a part of the “Digital India Programme” and is considered one of the 44 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). Its goal is to make the functioning of all State Legislatures paperless and transform them into a ‘Digital House.’ So far, 21 State legislatures have signed Memorandums of Understanding for the implementation of NeVA. The project has been sanctioned for 17 legislatures, and funds have been released to them for its implementation. Currently, 9 legislatures have already become fully digital and are operating on the NeVA platform, conducting all their business in a digital and paperless manner.
The Chief Guest for the workshop is Shri Piyush Goyal, the Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha, and Union Minister for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textile. Other notable attendees include Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister for the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal, and Mines, Shri V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and External Affairs, Shri V. Srinivas, IAS, Secretary of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, and Shri Gudey Srinivas, IAS, Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
The workshop will be attended by stakeholders of the NeVA project, including Secretaries and Senior Officers of State Assemblies, Nodal/IT Secretaries of State Governments, and representatives from the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The workshop will consist of six sessions held over two days. The first session will focus on “NeVA as a platform for Digital House.” The second session will involve representatives from the 9 legislatures that have gone live on the NeVA platform sharing their experiences. The CPMU (Central Project Management Unit) NeVA team will provide a session on the steps required for NeVA implementation.
On the second day, a session titled “NeVA: Keeping pace with emerging technologies for enabling good governance” will feature three technical experts from Google Inc., Microsoft, and IBM. They will discuss and provide guidance on emerging technologies such as AI that can cater to the contemporary needs of NeVA stakeholders. The CPMU NeVA team will then provide an overview of the NeVA platform, including presentations on modules like Digital House, Bills Module, Question Module, Committee Modules, etc. This will be followed by a Question & Answer session with the Secretary and Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to address queries and concerns of stakeholders regarding onboarding to NeVA.
The National Workshop will conclude with a Valedictory Session chaired by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law & Justice and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Culture. Shri Gudey Srinivas, Secretary of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and Shri Rajit Punhani, Secretary of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat & CEO of Sansad TV, will also be present at the concluding function.
