The West Bengal Legislative Assembly signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 4, 2026, to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA). This agreement makes West Bengal the 33rd legislative body in India to adopt the platform. The initiative transitions the state legislature towards a paperless and fully digitized ecosystem.
Digitizing Legislative Operations: The Tripartite MoU
The execution of the tripartite agreement involves three key entities: the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) representing the central government, the Government of West Bengal, and the West Bengal Legislative Assembly secretariat. The agreement serves as the formal framework to deploy the digital infrastructure required to automate and link all legislative processes in the state.
The official signing ceremony took place in the presence of several high-ranking dignitaries. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L. Murugan attended the event. The Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, Rathindra Bose, signed the document on behalf of the state legislature, while West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari participated in the event virtually.
What Is the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA)?
The National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) formulated under the Digital India Programme. Managed by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) as the nodal agency, the program seeks to digitize all 37 legislative houses across India (comprising 31 legislative assemblies and 6 legislative councils), in addition to the two houses of Parliament. The core objective is to integrate all legislative activities under a unified, paperless digital environment, working under the theme of “One Nation, One Application”.
Core Features and Objectives
NeVA replaces traditional physical files and papers with a secure, electronic workflow system. The platform offers several essential capabilities to transform legislative operations:
- Unified Workflow: It covers the entire life cycle of legislative business, including questions, notices, bills, committee reports, and daily bulletins.
- Device-Neutral Architecture: The application runs seamlessly on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, allowing members to access assembly materials from anywhere.
- Citizen Access: It features the mNeVA mobile application, which makes legislative proceedings, bills, and questions accessible to the public, increasing transparency.
Technology and Funding Structure
The application is deployed on Meghraj 2.0, which is the national cloud infrastructure managed by the Government of India. This cloud-based hosting guarantees data security, high availability, and scalability without requiring individual states to build separate data centers.
As a centrally sponsored scheme, the financial burden of implementing NeVA is shared between the Union Government and the states. The cost-sharing ratio is divided as follows:
| Category of State/UT | Centre’s Share | State’s Share |
|---|---|---|
| North Eastern and Himalayan States | 90% | 10% |
| Union Territories | 100% | 0% |
| All Other States (including West Bengal) | 60% | 40% |
Status of NeVA Implementation Across India
The signing of the MoU by West Bengal marks a crucial milestone in the digitization of legislative bodies in India. With West Bengal joining as the 33rd legislative body, all 31 state and union territory legislative assemblies have now formally signed agreements to implement the platform.
While 33 legislative bodies have registered, the transition to active, paperless operations is being executed in phases:
- Full Digitization: A total of 21 legislatures in India have successfully completed the migration and currently run their daily operations in a completely paperless format.
- Pioneering States: Nagaland was the first state in India to implement the NeVA project, transitioning its assembly to a paperless format in March 2022.
- Historical Precursor: Before the national application was developed, Himachal Pradesh became the first high-tech, paperless legislative assembly in India in 2014 under a pilot initiative known as e-Vidhan. This pilot project served as the template for the pan-India NeVA system.
Significance of the Transition
Moving to a digital workflow under NeVA provides several major advantages for governance, public administration, and resource management:
- Environmental Impact: By eliminating the printing of thousands of pages of bills, agendas, committee reports, and daily documents, the transition significantly cuts down paper consumption and reduces the carbon footprint of the legislative process.
- Economic Efficiency: Reducing the scale of physical printing and document distribution saves substantial public funds spent on paper, printing machinery, toner, and administrative storage.
- Transparency and Accessibility: Putting legislative documents online allows citizens to track the activities of their representatives. People can view submitted questions, legislative responses, and the status of bills in real-time, bridging the gap between voters and legislators.
- Data-Driven Governance: Digitization facilitates quick and easy retrieval of past debates, legislative acts, and committee research. Members of the assembly can reference old records instantly, improving the speed and quality of legislative debates and policy decisions.
Key Takeaways
- The West Bengal Legislative Assembly signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding on June 4, 2026, to implement the National e-Vidhan Application.
- With this signing, West Bengal became the 33rd legislative body in India to join the digital platform.
- The National e-Vidhan Application is a Mission Mode Project under the Digital India Programme designed to digitize and transition legislative operations into a paperless workflow.
- The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs serves as the nodal ministry for executing and administering the project nationwide.
- The application is hosted on Meghraj 2.0, which is the national cloud infrastructure managed by the Government of India.
- Nagaland was the first state in India to implement the project in March 2022, while Himachal Pradesh pioneered the digital assembly concept in 2014 under the pilot initiative e-Vidhan.
