Virtual Legislatures ? “ Not Quite There “ but “ Getting Close “
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/
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.
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
22 Aug 2022
Related Readings :
Ø Dance of Democracy ?....................... ………..[ 30 Dec 2017 ]
Ø Candidates / Spouses / Kids : Assets ?........ [ 16 Feb 2018 ]
Ø Artificial Intelligence to fix MP / MLA Salary ? [ 22 Feb 2018 ]
Ø People’s Pulse ? People’s Confusion ?........... [ 12 July 2018 ]
Ø Citizen’s Charter of Demand ………………………….[ 29 Oct 2018 ]
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
Ø Virtual Parliament : a COVID bye-product ? ………………[ 03 June 2020 ]
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 …………………
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 :
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