Odisha Legislative Assembly Goes Paperless with NeVA Digital House
The Odisha Legislative Assembly (OLA) has officially transitioned into a paperless system with the launch of the ‘Digital House’ under the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA). This initiative, aimed at modernizing legislative processes, allows lawmakers to access critical legislative information seamlessly through a mobile application.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, while inaugurating the Digital House alongside Speaker Surama Padhy, ministers, and legislators, hailed the move as a historic milestone in the state’s digital transformation. He emphasized that the adoption of NeVA would eliminate paper-based processes, enabling members to retrieve bills, notices, committee reports, and other legislative documents directly on their devices.
NeVA is a key component of the Digital India and Go Green initiatives, aiming to bring all state legislatures onto a unified digital platform. This system not only enhances efficiency but also creates a centralized data repository for legislative reference and comparative analysis.
Although the digital initiative was introduced in 2021, it had not been fully operational until now. Notably, the Odisha Assembly received the CSI-SIG e-Governance Award of Excellence (Gold) in 2021 for implementing best IT practices in legislative governance.
Key features of NeVA include e-voting, online bill management, speech time tracking, e-attendance, and automated member bio-profile generation. Additionally, it provides tools for managing committee functions, dynamic event scheduling, and even sending birthday wishes to members.
With Odisha joining the ranks of 16 other state legislatures alongside the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the NeVA platform, Speaker Surama Padhy stated that the initiative would enhance transparency, streamline legislative business, and improve governance efficiency.
