Interviewtimes 
Surjya Narayan Patro, the incumbent speaker of the Odisha legislative assembly has ushered in an unprecedented reform wave for the house. He has announced that the forthcoming Budget session of the state assembly will be conducted as e-session. This is veritably one of the epochal moments in ‘digital transformation’.
Dr Patra had convened a high-level meeting for reviewing the situation. The entire proceedings of the state assembly. The entire proceedings of the state assembly will be done through ‘Neva’. The proceedings includes the address of the Governor to the house to Budget presentation and question-answer session involving the legislators. Questions will be placed online while the response/reply will be submitted through National E-Vidhan Application’ (NeVA) mobile application. The application will have to be downloaded in the phone and by clicking Odisha Assembly tab, one can access the budget as it is presented by the Finance Minister.
Patro said that Odisha will be the first state in the country to present the budget on digital mode. He said that members will be provided with pen drives having budget speech and other details. They also can read the speech on their I-Pads. He said that the entire budget proceedings will be paperless from this year and no budget book would be printed this time. Question and answers in the Assembly will also go paperless, he said.
A senior official of the IT department will oversee the functioning of the e-assembly. The proceedings of the assembly will be made available through mobile app. The legislators will be supplied with the necessary documents during the course of the assembly proceedings to ensure that the house runs without interruptions.
The speaker has instructed all officials to take necessary measures for smooth implementation of e-assembly procedures.
The state assembly is going paperless to avoid human contact and, thus, contain the spread of the Covid pandemic which is at a low ebb. Speaker Patro had earlier informed that the upgradation of Odisha Assembly to e-Vidhan Sabha will be made at a cost of Rs 8.56 crore, for which the central government will bear 60 per cent of the total amount while the remaining 40 per cent will be allocated by the state government.
Members of the Assembly staff will be trained to use ‘Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System’ to operate office files online by the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC).
Newly elected MLA from Balasore district Swarup Kumar Das said that it is a good move by the Speaker.
“Looking at the coronavirus pandemic situation in the country, virtual session is indeed a praiseworthy decision by the state government,” Das said.
Notably, Patro has been in the thick of action, hogging the media limelight. He has been chosen as the Chief Patron of this largest Organisation of Odia Diaspora- World Odisha Society. U.S. based renowned scientist Dr. Sitikantha Dash has been appointed as the Patron of WOS. The Famous M.P. from Kenya Dr. Swarup Mishra will be the Chief Adviser of the August Forum. The Fame Philanthropist of the U.S.A. Dhirendra Kar has been designated as the Adviser of WOS. The Director of Sovaniya Andolan and Celebrated Social leader Dr. Arundhati Debi has the distinction of becoming the Founder of the coveted Organisation, announced during an International Convention held on online basis.
The Society has expressed its determined commitment to formulate a database of Odias staying outside of the state, to present and prove the quint essence of the Slogan One Odisha – Best Odisha in International arena, to project, promote, propagate and popularize the fragrance and Fortitude of Brand Odisha in India and abroad, to build up the campaign and Pressure on the State Government to Start a NRO Ministry, meant for the protection of the Interest of Odia migrants as well as NROs worldwide and to serve their overall well-being and to chalk out the Road Map to ensure the realization of the vision to turn Odisha into the Front ranking and most prosperous State in the Year 2036, when our mother state will be celebrating Centenary Year of its existence as a language based state.
