Hi Friends,

Even as I launch this today ( my 80th Birthday ), I realize that there is yet so much to say and do. There is just no time to look back, no time to wonder,"Will anyone read these pages?"

With regards,
Hemen Parekh
27 June 2013

Now as I approach my 90th birthday ( 27 June 2023 ) , I invite you to visit my Digital Avatar ( www.hemenparekh.ai ) – and continue chatting with me , even when I am no more here physically

Translate

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

Deoraji : Please Convince all Political Parties


 ==================================================

Subject: 


Your Virtual Panel Meetings Proposal — 


A Seed That Could Grow into My Robotic Lok Sabha


Dear Shri Milind Deora ji,

[ mpmilind.deora@sansad.nic.in ]

 


Namaste.


I am Hemen Parekh — a 92-year-old blogger from Mumbai who has spent the

 better part of a decade writing to politicians, bureaucrats, and anyone else who

 might listen, about ideas for making India's democracy more efficient, more

 economical, and more genuinely representative.


Today I write to congratulate you.


Your recent suggestion that Parliamentary Panel Meetings be conducted virtually —

 a move that credible estimates put at saving the national exchequer upwards of

 ₹100 crore annually — is precisely the kind of bold, practical thinking that our

 Parliament desperately needs. 

And coming as it does at a time when our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra

 Modi ji has himself urged citizens and officials to embrace 'Work From Home' and

 'Virtual Meetings' in order to reduce our dependence on petrol and diesel, your

 proposal lands at exactly the right moment.


You have shown that parliamentary common sense and national environmental

 responsibility are not in conflict. They are, in fact, the same thing.


I congratulate you most warmly.


But I must now take the liberty — as only a 92-year-old can — of urging you to go

further.


On 8 May 2026, I published a blog post titled 'How About a Robotic Lok Sabha?'


You may read it here:

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2026/05/how-about-robotic-lok-sabha.html


I was inspired by a remarkable event in Turkey: on 5 May 2026, a humanoid robot

 named CANIKMAN formally attended the Canik Municipal Council's meeting in

 Samsun — sitting among elected officials, responding to questions, and even

 shaking hands with participants. Turkey's first population-registered humanoid

 robot had entered local government.


My reaction was simple: India should go one better.


Here is what I proposed:


Each of India's 543 sitting MPs is assigned a Government-owned humanoid Robot

 Twin, permanently stationed inside Parliament House. The MP remains in his or

 her constituency — close to the people who elected them. The Robot Twin sits in

 the Lok Sabha chamber and :


Raises its hand to speak — when instructed by the MP via a secure mobile app

Delivers the MP's speech — in the MP's own voice, via voice synthesis

Presses the voting button — exactly as directed by the MP

Registers attendance — biometrically verified to the remote MP

Physically stands, sits, applauds — mirroring all democratic convention


And — most critically — the Robot Twin does NOT :


Rush to the Well of the House

Snatch the Speaker's microphone

Shout slogans or tear up papers

Speak out of turn

Refuse to sit down when the Speaker asks


The Robot Twin has no emotions. It cannot be provoked. It simply follows the

 rules.


The financial case is straightforward :

One-time investment: ₹109 crore (543 robots at ₹20 lakh each, bulk

    procurement)

Annual savings: approximately ₹230 crore (travel, TA/DA, security, building

    operations)

Payback period: under six months


This does not even count the saving from zero adjournments — each adjourned

 Parliament day costs the exchequer approximately ₹2.5 crore in direct costs

 alone.


If the model succeeds in the Lok Sabha, it extends naturally to the Rajya Sabha

 (245 Robot Twins), to 30 State Legislative Assemblies (4,120 MLAs), and to

 Municipal Corporations across India. 


Total national savings  :   potentially ₹ 1,000 crore per year or more.

 


And — perhaps most importantly —

- every elected representative could spend

 365 days a year in their constituency, actually solving their constituents'

 problems,

-   rather than commuting to Delhi to perform for television cameras.


The Robot Twin performs in Parliament. The human MP performs in the

 constituency. 


Is that not exactly what democracy intended in the first place ?



Shri Deora ji, 


your virtual panels proposal has proved that you think beyond convention. 


I now urge you — respectfully but earnestly — to:


1. Read my blog post and share it with your fellow MPs and MLAs for their studied

   consideration.


2. Champion the formation of a Parliamentary Study Group — perhaps under one

   of the very panels whose virtualisation you have already proposed — to examine

   the feasibility of a phased Robotic Parliament pilot.


3. Use your considerable influence and public platform to spark a national

  conversation: if Turkey's municipality can seat a humanoid robot among elected

  officials, why should India — the world's largest democracy and a rising

 technology powerhouse — not lead the world in reimagining democratic

 participation for the 21st century?


Your proposal was Step One. My proposal is Step Two. Together, they could

 change the face of Indian democracy.

 

I look forward to your thoughts.


With warm regards and high hopes,


Hemen Parekh


hcp@RecruitGuru.com

www.hemenparekh.ai

Mumbai, 13 May 2026

No comments:

Post a Comment