<p>Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who completed two years in office on Saturday, slammed the state government for the delay in the implementation of e-Vidhan, which he is doggedly pursuing.</p>.<p>First rolled out in Himachal Pradesh in 2014, e-Vidhan enables the automation of the lawmaking process and makes legislature sessions paperless, saving hundreds of trees and public money annually.</p>.<p>“In my two years as Speaker, the one thing that I wanted to do but could not was implementation of e-Vidhan. The government is responsible for this,” Kageri said at a news conference. </p>.<p>The process of rolling out e-Vidhan started in 2014 when a team from Karnataka visited Himachal Pradesh to study the project.</p>.<p>“The legislature has no financial autonomy and has to depend on the government. Since 2014, despite efforts by all the previous Speakers, the e-Vidhan hasn’t become a reality,” he said.</p>.<p>Once the e-Vidhan is rolled out, all key functions of the legislature - questions & notices, replies by the government, laying of reports and bills - will be done virtually through National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) for both web and mobile.</p>.<p>Kageri lamented that smaller states such as Kerala and Himachal Pradesh implemented e-Vidhan. “But Karnataka, where Bengaluru is hailed globally as an IT hub, does not have e-Vidhan, which is painful,” he said. </p>.<p>According to Kageri, the problem lay with the bureaucracy. “Officials should aspire for new innovations in administration that are being adopted globally. They should do away with the British-era routine of sending files back seeking clarification,” he said, citing the non-implementation of e-Vidhan as an example. “I urge the chief minister to take this seriously,” he said, adding that he was hoping for good things to happen going forward. </p>.<p>Kageri was elected as Speaker on July 31, 2019, after the BJP government came to power. “In the last two years, we had five sessions of the legislature for a total of 54 days,” he said. “A total of 98 Bills were tabled and 96 were passed. We have a 94 per cent achievement in terms of the number of questions answered in the House.” </p>.<p>The Speaker is also planning to institute a ‘Best Legislator’ award. “Necessary preparations are on to give the award during the next session. Guidelines are ready for this,” he said. </p>.<p>Kageri said he would work towards making the state legislature the best in the country. “There have been some sour incidents, yes, and whenever limits were crossed I had to take tough decisions. Overall, the Assembly has functioned well,” he said.</p>
<p>Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, who completed two years in office on Saturday, slammed the state government for the delay in the implementation of e-Vidhan, which he is doggedly pursuing.</p>.<p>First rolled out in Himachal Pradesh in 2014, e-Vidhan enables the automation of the lawmaking process and makes legislature sessions paperless, saving hundreds of trees and public money annually.</p>.<p>“In my two years as Speaker, the one thing that I wanted to do but could not was implementation of e-Vidhan. The government is responsible for this,” Kageri said at a news conference. </p>.<p>The process of rolling out e-Vidhan started in 2014 when a team from Karnataka visited Himachal Pradesh to study the project.</p>.<p>“The legislature has no financial autonomy and has to depend on the government. Since 2014, despite efforts by all the previous Speakers, the e-Vidhan hasn’t become a reality,” he said.</p>.<p>Once the e-Vidhan is rolled out, all key functions of the legislature - questions & notices, replies by the government, laying of reports and bills - will be done virtually through National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) for both web and mobile.</p>.<p>Kageri lamented that smaller states such as Kerala and Himachal Pradesh implemented e-Vidhan. “But Karnataka, where Bengaluru is hailed globally as an IT hub, does not have e-Vidhan, which is painful,” he said. </p>.<p>According to Kageri, the problem lay with the bureaucracy. “Officials should aspire for new innovations in administration that are being adopted globally. They should do away with the British-era routine of sending files back seeking clarification,” he said, citing the non-implementation of e-Vidhan as an example. “I urge the chief minister to take this seriously,” he said, adding that he was hoping for good things to happen going forward. </p>.<p>Kageri was elected as Speaker on July 31, 2019, after the BJP government came to power. “In the last two years, we had five sessions of the legislature for a total of 54 days,” he said. “A total of 98 Bills were tabled and 96 were passed. We have a 94 per cent achievement in terms of the number of questions answered in the House.” </p>.<p>The Speaker is also planning to institute a ‘Best Legislator’ award. “Necessary preparations are on to give the award during the next session. Guidelines are ready for this,” he said. </p>.<p>Kageri said he would work towards making the state legislature the best in the country. “There have been some sour incidents, yes, and whenever limits were crossed I had to take tough decisions. Overall, the Assembly has functioned well,” he said.</p>