Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will digitally present the Budget estimates for the 2024-25 fiscal on Feb 21
SHILLONG, Feb 7: In a move towards achieving a paperless Meghalaya Assembly, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will digitally present the Budget estimates for the financial year 2024-25 during the upcoming budget session. The budget will be presented on February 21.
The Budget speech will be made available on the National eVidhan Application (NeVA) website and the website of the 60-member state Assembly.
A statement said members of the Assembly will be able to access the speech through the tablets provided in the House.
Officials of the IT Cell of the Assembly Secretariat, led by computer programmer Dapborlang Marwein, on Wednesday, provided training to Sangma on the use of the NeVA.
Andrew Simons, Commissioner and Secretary of the Assembly Secretariat, said this measure aligns to transition the House proceedings to a paperless format.
He also said several innovations are being initiated towards the goal of making the Assembly fully paperless.
Starting this session, hard copies of the list of business, questions, motions, resolutions, etc., will be limited and the documents will be uploaded on the NeVA website and the Assembly website.
Legislators will also be provided with the option of submitting their questions and other notices through the application, as the app hosts a secure page for each member.
Meanwhile, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) lauded Speaker Thomas A. Sangma and the MDA 2.0 government for finally acknowledging that Meghalaya is not a Hindi-speaking state.
The VPP had earlier declared that its MLAs would not attend the Governor’s customary address if he spoke in Hindi.
The Assembly Secretariat has now scheduled the simultaneous translation of the Governor’s address to the House into English on the first day of the budget session on February 16.
“The VPP expresses its appreciation to the Speaker and the MDA 2.0 government for finally coming to good sense that Meghalaya is not a Hindi-speaking state,” VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh said. “The arrangement for the translator in the Assembly vindicates the stand and demand of the VPP,” he added.
Myrboh recalled that during the 2023 budget session, the Speaker and the government “defended the indefensible” and forced the people of the state to listen to the address of the Governor in a language they do not understand and against the official language of the state.
“The party congratulates the courageous and principled stand and assertion of the party MLAs in this matter and wishes them success in their efforts to serve the people not only of their constituencies but the entire state including the people in the constituencies represented by those in the government,” he said.
The four VPP legislators had staged a walkout during the budget session in 2023, claiming that the Governor’s speech in Hindi offended local sentiments.