Parliament to go paperless, begins by saving Rs 80 lakh annually and 1,000 trees
Digitisation of Parliamentary documents have helped save 1,000 trees, said Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Explaining the steps taken to turn the House into a “paperless institution”, she added that, “The number of copies of various Committee reports and papers laid on the table of the House has been considerably reduced. The number of hard copies of Budget documents has also been reduced by 35 percent,” after meeting leaders of various political parties in the Parliament Library Building, New Delhi.
The House has been able to save Rs 80 lakh annually by reducing the use of 194 lakh A-4 sized papers translating into nearly 40,000 reams of paper, she was quoted saying in an official release, stated The Times Of India report. The Speaker said that the intent behind striving towards a paperless office is the preservation of the environment, adding that as per research, for every tree destroyed, around 20,000 sheets of paper are generated. “Therefore, by reducing the use of paper, we have saved about 1,000 trees! I am sure with your kind cooperation, we would be able to convert the Lok Sabha into a paperless institution,” she added.
The Speaker also launched a web portal for the Lok Sabha members, which will facilitate the online submission of various notices. “The existing system of giving physical notices in the Parliamentary Notice Office would, of course, continue at present,” she said. Giving details about the portal, Sumitra Mahajan said, separate login and password would be assigned to each MP, and that the MPs would be able to interact with each other and with various branches of the Secretariat through email and SMSes.
“The portal also provides ready information regarding Bills, meeting schedules of various committees, agendas and reports, verbatim debates and other parliamentary information. A Member’s Reference Service Interface has also been developed where they can send requests for reference material on various subjects and receive material electronically,” she explained.
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