In a significant step towards the Government of India’s vision of “One Nation – One Application” for legislative governance, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on 4th June signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA). With this move, West Bengal has become the last among the 31 State and Union Territory Legislative Assemblies in the country to join the platform.
The MoU was signed today in the august presence of Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs; Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs; Dr. L. Murugan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs; and the Speaker of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, Rathindra Bose. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari joined the occasion virtually.
The tripartite agreement was executed by Dr. Satya Prakash, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Mission Leader (NeVA), on behalf of the Centre; Soumendra Nath Das, Principal Secretary, West Bengal Legislative Assembly; and Sampa Dhar, Special Secretary, Parliamentary Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal.
According to the official press release issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, the signing of the MoU makes the West Bengal Legislative Assembly the 33rd Legislature in the country to join the NeVA initiative. This milestone brings the entire ecosystem of legislative bodies under the common digital platform.
With West Bengal’s inclusion, all 31 State and Union Territory Legislative Assemblies, covering the 28 States as well as the three Union Territories with legislatures (Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, and Puducherry), have now formally implemented NeVA. With Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the number of legislative bodies in the NeVA platform has reached 33.
Additionally, the six Legislative Councils in the bicameral States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have also been integrated into the NeVA platform.
According to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, led by Mamata Banerjee, had refused to sign the MoU or implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) project. The CM stated that the TMC regime was reluctant to join several central government initiatives, including the ‘One Nation One Application’ vision under NeVA, which promotes greater transparency and modernisation in legislative functioning.
He pointed out that, despite the large size of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, voting continued to be conducted on paper, with no electronic system in place and no live streaming of proceedings during their tenure. “The previous government was not involved in any central project. That list also included projects like ‘One Nation One Application’, which is much more transparent and modern… The previous government did not take any step in this matter,” Adhikari said, adding that this reluctance had denied the people of West Bengal the benefits of such digital initiatives.
NeVA is a Mission Mode Project under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs aimed at digitising and modernising the functioning of all Legislatures across the country. It enables end-to-end digital handling of legislative business, including Questions, Bills, Notices, Assurances, Committee proceedings, List of Business, and Bulletins, while creating a permanent digital repository of records. The platform promotes paperless, transparent, efficient, and citizen-centric governance in line with the Prime Minister’s Digital India vision.
As of now, 21 Legislatures have successfully transitioned to fully digital functioning on NeVA, with the Ministry providing financial assistance, technical support, and capacity building to all participating bodies.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju emphasised the Government’s commitment to supporting West Bengal in its journey towards becoming a fully digital House, while Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the initiative as a step towards modernising governance. Senior officials assured full technical assistance for seamless implementation.
