NOT QUITE THERE :
A few days back, I sent following E Mail to our Cabinet
Ministers :
Ø LS
Speaker Om Birla would like this ………………[ 29 July 2022 ]
Where I laid out my suggestion for a “ Virtual Legislature “ in following terms :
There is only one solution to put a permanent end to this
tamasha :
No more parliament session which is physical
All sessions to be “ virtual
video sessions “ in which :
Members to participate online from their homes
Speaker has Admin Control, to turn off the video / audio
of any rowdy / shouting
member or of a member who exceeds more than 3 minutes of speaking
To be able to " speak " , a member will need to
fill in an Online Form on Sansad
Portal, requesting permission to speak, clearly selecting
( from appropriate drop
lists ),
- which session
- which subject / topic
Based on this, Speaker will confirm or deny permission (
this will get displayed on
the Portal )
Or the Speaker may email the concerned Member to just
“ Record “ his / her
speech ( audio )
on the Sansad Portal , which ( assuming permission was granted ),
will get PODCAST at the allotted time-slot
Any citizen should be able to login , into any session as
a Mute Spectator, by
entering his / her Aadhar ID
Next ?
Projecting entire Virtual
Proceedings as a 3D volumetric Hologram on a Smart
phone, using technology developed by IKININC
https://ikininc.com/products/ryz-3d-hologram-technology/
All of this “ Virtual
Loksabha “ platform development could be done in less than 3
months and at a cost of less
than Rs 50 crore
This is one time cost
Now consider the SAVINGS
Let us assume that , in a year Parliament meets for 100
days ( all sessions put together )
Each session is for 8 hours
That translates into 800
work-hours / year
Recent press releases put the cost at Rs 1.5 crore / hour
Hence implementing my suggestion would save the country Rs 1,200 crore / year
No doubt, most of the
Political Parties would oppose my suggestion
There is one way, we can get all parties to accept this
By conducting an ONLINE SURVEY and publishing
the results
OR,
BJP could
incorporate this item ( proposed Governance Reform ) in its Sankalp
Patras ( Election Manifestos ) for the forthcoming Dec 2022 elections in 7 States
This single one
item will ensure that it wins absolute majority in all the 7 States !
BUT
GETTING CLOSE :
Source :
'Smart'
legislator likely to be a reality soon; 21 states onboard /
ET / 16 Aug 2022
Extract :
Paperless' functioning, a
'smart' desk for legislators with a tablet
running real-time translation of speeches across languages, all legislative documentation and reports at one
touch - these are the key missions being worked upon to bring in an 'E-Sansad' and 'smart' legislator.
NeVA ( helpdesk-neva@gov.in
)
will bring all legislatures on one platform, creating a single,
comprehensive data depository allowing for electronic flow of
information, electronic laying of documents in the House and 'paperless' information exchange among stakeholders.
This will not only enable transparent information flow but also data analytics, and comparative
analysis across legislatures.
It is estimated that NeVA,
with its one-touch access
and device agnostic approach, may replace over 100 IT applications/systems
running across legislatures and fool-proof it with NIC backed systems
Tamil Nadu assembly has
already installed tablet devices at every member's seat with provisions for electronic voting.
All agenda, member details, party
position, House
proceedings, synopsis etc are made available electronically through the device. The state
2021 budget was entirely 'paperless'
and circulated to members in soft copy on the tablet.
Key to the pan India
'smart legislature' is real time translation.
The ministry is looking at software like Google Translate,
discussing options with Microsoft even as MEITY run CDAC is also working
closely on an Automatic Speech
Recognition system based on artificial intelligence for use of machine
translation and interpretation into regional languages, specifically Voice-to-Text and Voice-to-Voice translation. CDAC has, however, pointed out that
the diversity in the language dialects makes it complex to effect real-time
translation.
"Technological interventions should ensure the transformation of
Indian Parliament into a Smart Parliament," the panel chaired by Rajya
Sabha MP Tiruchi
Siva has said. ( tiruchi.siva@sansad.nic.in )
Addendum :
Since my 29 July e-mail to Shri Om Birla, I
felt the need to “ incentivize “ our legislators to stop travelling to Delhi and, instead adopt
WFH ( Work From Home )
I suggest that for each day of Legislature Session attended
ONLINE from home, members
are given following additional reimbursements ( of course, tax-free ) :
Ø WFH reimbursement …………………………. Rs 5,000 / day
Ø Study-room Refurbishment …………………Rs 5,000 / day
A total of Rs 10,000 / day
Let us say , we have a combined strength of
800 ( 540 in LS + 260 in RS ) members
Hence these reimbursements will add up to :
Rs 10,000 x 800 = 8,000,000 ( Rs 80 lakhs / day )
For a total of 100 days ( of all sessions )
in a year, this would cost the Govt ., Rs 8,000 Lakhs / year ( Rs 80 crore )
This is still
a pea-nut amount , considering an annual saving of Rs 1200 Crore !
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
hcp@RecruitGuru.com
22 Aug 2022
Related
Readings :
Ø Dance
of Democracy ?....................... ………..[ 30 Dec 2017 ]
Ø VotersWill ……………………………………………………….[
03 Nov 2018 ]
Extract :
Now how about modifying UMANG in
following way :
· Links users’ Mobile phones with their
respective MPs / MLAs
Flash on the voters’ mobiles , each
proposed resolution requiring voting
by MP / MLA
Enables each Voter to “ direct / instruct “ his / her MP , to vote “ for “ or
“ against “
Aggregates “ FOR / AGAINST “ votes polled by UMANG from
all voters,
# MP ( or
MLA ) wise
# Party-wise
# Overall (
for all Members put together )
· Publish these results on the web sites
of Lok Sabha / Parties / MPs and
MLAs
Irrespective of weather the majority
of the voters desired “ FOR “ or
“ AGAINST “ any given resolution, voters do not expect a MP / MLA to go
against the whip of the party to which he / she belongs
But at least this mechanism would
provide the MPs / MLAs / Parties ,
a QUANTIFIED
MEASURE of the wishes of the voters and become “
sensitive “ to their wishes
And the voters will get an
opportunity to question their elected
representatives !
Dear Shri Ravi Shankar Prasadji,
If it is not possible to modify UMANG
as suggested above , I urge BJP to
develop such an App ( to be called , VotersWill ? ) on its own and launch
it by next month
That will be a proof of BJP’s desire /
willingness to concretize its concepts
of :
From Main to Hum
· Subka Saath, Subka Vikas
Immediate launch of VotersWill , will convince the 900 million voters that BJP
holds
itself answerable / accountable to the people , whether in power or in
opposition
Extract :
With Virtual Parliament sessions, you can
do following :
Ø Online broadcast of Virtual
Session through a Mobile App ( LokRaj ? )
Ø Receive Questions / Answers / Notices , online ( as being done
already )
Ø Decide ( and control ), WHO will speak , WHEN and for HOW LONG .
Ø Display
these “ Speaking Schedules “
on the Mobile App with a provision
for the viewers to cast their “ Ratings “ online / instantly , as each speaker
delivers his / her speech
Dynamically
display “ No of Raters “ and “ Rating Score ( 1 to 5 ) “ .
Such an “ Instant Feedback “ will dramatically improve , not only the
behavior of each Member of Parliament, but also improve the “ Relevance “
of his talk !
Ø Turn-off
the member’s mike if he refuses to stop or starts shouting /
abusing
Ø No
question of anyone speaking “out of turn “ or rushing to the well of the
house !
Ø Bar
unruly members from attending a VIRTUAL SESSION
Ø Display
( as in case of Augmented Reality – AR ), following record of an MP
as he is
speaking :
# Attendance
percentage / Punctuality
# No of questions asked
# Number of minutes spoken
during the session
Ø Just
before the voting starts on any Bill , enable the Members of Parliament
to
receive “ Instructions ( really , feedback from citizen who voted for him /
her ) “, as to how voters want him to vote ( “for “ or
“against “ the bill as outlined at :
VotersWill ………………………………….[ 03 Nov 2018 ]
Ø Enable every Member to receive Online Feedback whether his
overall
performance is so bad that the citizen who voted for him , now want him “ Re-
called “ , as described at :
