With the State Government, committed to promote digitisation, having ensured that the Finance Minister would read the Budget speech through his laptop and the soft copies would be sent to the MlAs and the media, they are yet to provide laptops to the MlAs, a few hours left for the session to start.
Notably, it would be the first time in the State that the Finance Minister would deliver the Budget speech while reading it from his laptop. Earlier, the Finance Minister used to give the Budget speech while reading it from the hard copy. It is a practice started from 2002 for the MlAs being provided with laptops during the maiden session of the Assembly. But around 50 percent of the MlAs of the fourth Assembly being new to the House, they have no laptop given by the state Assembly. Talking to The Pioneer on Wednesday, the State Finance Minister Prakash Pant confirmed on Wednesday that this time soft copy of the Budget would be distributed among the members and the media persons.
Pant said the MlAs have been getting laptops before the beginning of the first session of the newly elected Vidhan Sabha.
Though those MlAs who are not sufficiently tech- savvy shy away from using their laptops they would have to use them this time with the budget speech being presented in the soft copy. The MlAs, particularly the new entrants to the House, are in a quandary, wondering how they would obtain the copies of the Budget speech when they have no laptops in their possession.
Observers said even most of the MlAs who had their stints in the previous Houses have no laptops with them with those, given to them by the Government on the earlier occasions, having been lovingly gifted to their near and dear ones or to their personal secretaries. "It is strange that the State Government while zealously promoting digitisation in tune with the Centre's thrust on it has not cared to provide the MlAs with the laptops, given the practice continuing since 2002," one of the observers said.
Talking to The Pioneer, the leader of the Opposition Indira Hridayesh said the sincerity of the State Government on the much-hyped digitisation has been exposed through the matter. "We are with the State Government on the matter of promoting digitisation. The MlAs who are not tech-savvy would have to learn the art of digitisation.
The old guards of the House would use their laptops. But the new entrants would land in difficulty as they are yet to be provided with the laptops in tune with the practice continuing since 2002," she said.