Chandigarh Municipal Councillors To Get 'Smarter' With New Tablets Worth Rs 72 Lakhs
The Chandigarh councillors have something to rejoice about. At a cost of more than Rs 72 lakh, 60 new tablets will be installed at the councillors' desks in the hall, and the agenda is scheduled to go before the House on Tuesday.
As per the reports, the council members of the Chandigarh UT were offered the option to purchase new laptops, something that was unheard of in Haryana and Punjab, with the justification that doing so would allow them to read agendas digitally rather than using paper. Now, 60 new tablets will be arranged for the purpose.
While earlier the proposed amount was estimated at Rs 50 lakhs, the final proposal now would be of Rs 72,56,256, out of which big amount, Rs 59,75,721 to be precise, will be spent on the tablets of companies like Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, HP and Dell. As per information these tablets would be around 10 to 12 inch long. The manpower per year for the project would be Rs 6.82 lakh, and operation and maintenance cost yearly would be Rs 5.97 lakh. A separate amount is likely to be spent on the software solution and other works of electrical or networking and this will be added separately.
As per the agenda of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, “The Municipal Corporation Chandigarh has been conducting General House meetings in physical mode, using copious amounts of papers which include printed agendas. Further, manpower is required to circulate the agenda to all councillors and other officials. In this regard, it is submitted that to bring more efficiency and enhance the digitalisation for smooth working of the House, paperless meetings are easier than ever, in the digitised era.”
The Municipal Corporation has stated that “many Houses like Himachal Vidhan Sabha and Haryana Vidhan Sabha have started adopting the paperless meeting process for streamlining processes. Firstly, the documents required to carry out these meetings take up zero office space. Secondly, no confusion or delays occur if a person fails to find a specific copy.”
The agenda also mentioned that a large amount of money on printing will be saved, and will be an eco-friendly step.
“The agenda is placed before the General House for consideration and approval of the proposal for making the General House proceedings completely paperless through purchase of hardware, software and permission to incur expenditure of Rs. 72,56.256,” it stated.
According to reports, the cost would be covered by Budget AVC of Information Technology Revenue Expenditure for the fiscal year 2023–2024.
