Mumbai: The Maharashtra government conducted its first paper-free e-cabinet meeting Tuesday, with all cabinet proposals uploaded on a digital dashboard, a venture that has cost the government Rs 1.03 crore.
Besides reducing the use of paper, by doing away with bulky files, the e-cabinet system will also increase the secrecy of the cabinet in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, as all the relevant files will be at a single point on a dashboard and the access will be controlled.
“Typically, proposals for every cabinet run into over 200 pages. We had to make 50-60 copies of these before every cabinet and circulate among the ministers. We have to print that and send these many copies in advance. The e-cabinet system makes it easier,” said a senior government official who wished to not be named.
“It also increases the government’s control over information pertaining to the cabinet,” he added.
The transition to an e-cabinet was part of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s 100-day programme.
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iPad for all ministers
To enable this shift to an e-cabinet, the Maharashtra government equipped all ministers with Apple iPads, magic keyboards, Apple pencils and Apple covers. The general administration department made sure that the models of the products were among the latest and not launched before 2024.
The government purchased 50 pieces of each item from a company called Innovative Techhub, which was the only bidder to qualify the government’s technical criteria, as per a government resolution by the general administration department that ThePrint has seen.
Altogether, along with 18 percent Goods and Services Tax, the 50 iPads cost a total of Rs 81.37 lakh, the keyboards another Rs 16.23 lakh, the 50 Apple pencils cost Rs 5.69 lakh, while the 50 covers were purchased for Rs 59,000.
“An iPad is an extension of a smartphone. Everybody is savvy enough these days, plus ministers have personal staff, officers on special duties and secretaries to help them out if needed. Moreover, all the information on the dashboard is available in Marathi,” the above-mentioned official said.
Prior to the first cabinet, the state general administration department had organised a training session for the secretaries of all departments.
The first e-cabinet
Officials said the first e-cabinet was more like a “User Acceptance Testing” with ministers.
Ministers were shown how the dashboard functions, how to log in, what the menu looks like, how information is uploaded, how documents are stored, who will have access to what and so on.
“It was more like training for ministers. The dashboard is like a cross between an email and a collaboration software,” the official said.
Ministers were shown how the e-cabinet process mirrors the traditional process.
Typically, before a proposal is put up before the cabinet, it first goes to relevant individuals for their comments. It is then sent for comments to the concerned departments. Most proposals are also sent to finance, planning and law and judiciary departments before finally landing on the chief secretary’s desk. The chief secretary decides whether to put up the proposal before the cabinet.
In the e-cabinet system, ministers can see a trail of what every individual and department has said on the proposal.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)