Date:10/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/10/stories/2008081054991000.htm

National

Somnath: make available authentic information to MPs

Neena Vyas

Parliamentary forums on specialised subjects
Massive e-governance plan being implemented
in India

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Saturday emphasised the need to make available authentic information on highly specialised subjects to members of Parliament to enable them to take informed decisions.

He made this point while delivering the keynote address on ‘The Communications Challenge for Parliament: Meeting the Information Need of Members and the Public’ at the 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Kuala Lumpur. A copy of his address was released here by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Mr. Chatterjee pointed out that over the last four years several initiatives had been taken to meet the information challenge faced by MPs. Several parliamentary forums on specialised subjects were set up, a lecture series was started with a view to familiarising MPs with authentic information on different topics, and the dedicated Lok Sabha television channel was also used as a tool to disseminate information on the working of Parliament to the general public while giving MPs a platform to air their views.

In November 2005, a meeting of the Commonwealth heads of Government adopted a Malta declaration on networking the Commonwealth for development, he noted. India had endorsed this programme and also decided to share its expertise in information and communication technology with the Commonwealth nations, he said.

The Speaker referred to the massive e-governance plan being implemented in India by the Union and State governments at a cost of Rs.2,30,000 million. New communication technologies had helped eliminate geographical barriers and would enable parliamentarians to keep in touch with their constituents in a meaningful and purposive way, he said.

A number of meetings took place between the Speaker and representatives and heads of parliamentary delegations from other countries.

The general assembly elected Datuk Mohammad Shafie Apdal, Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and heritage and chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Malaysia branch, as Chairperson of the CPA for three years from 2008 to 2011.