Physical copies of BMC meeting agendas and proposals will, however, continue to be circulated during the transition towards a paperless system, BJP group leader in the BMC Ganesh Khankar said

Mumbai: The BMC has proposed to provide 13-inch tablets to all 237 corporators, including the 10 nominated members, as part of its initiative to digitise the functioning of the civic House and its statutory committees. Physical copies of meeting agendas and proposals will, however, continue to be circulated during the transition, with the civic administration not planning to discontinue them immediately.The proposal, mooted by the ruling BJP in the BMC, has drawn criticism from the opposition. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar questioned the need to purchase separate devices when most corporators already have smartphones. “Almost every corporator today has a smartphone. The municipal agenda can very easily be accessed on their phones. There is no need to spend taxpayers’ money on purchasing separate tablets,” she pointed out.BJP group leader in the BMC Ganesh Khankar said the initiative was aimed at gradually moving municipal proceedings towards a paperless system. The tablets will allow corporators to access agendas, proposals and related documents for the civic House and various committee meetings digitally.“At present, many corporators are digitally savvy and would prefer receiving the agenda online rather than physical copies being delivered to their homes. But this does not mean that physical copies will be discontinued immediately. There may still be corporators who are not comfortable with digital platforms and may need physical copies,” he said.The BMC is also exploring the use of technology during civic House proceedings. Khankar said efforts were being made to introduce a voice-to-text system in the civic House so that speeches made by corporators during proceedings could simultaneously be converted into text. “If a corporator speaks during a House meeting, a text version of the speech should also be generated. Work is being done to explore such a proposal,” he said.BMC currently prints and distributes voluminous documents for the monthly civic House meetings as well as meetings of various statutory and special committees. These include standing committee, education committee, improvements committee, ward committees, works committee (City), works committee (Suburbs), women and child welfare committee, law and revenue committee, and health committee, among others.Several proposals run into hundreds of pages, resulting in substantial expenditure on paper, printing, transportation and distribution.A dedicated application is proposed for the tablets, through which corporators will be able to access agendas and supporting documents. Each proposal will be accessible using a designated code number.Khankar said the shift to a completely digital system would have to be gradual. “The Shiv Sena (UBT), when in power in BMC, had given laptops to all corporators, so why is it criticising our move now?” He said providing tablets to corporators is an important step towards familiarising the elected wing with digital tools and eventually enabling paperless functioning.In her party’s defence, Pednekar said the situation was different when Sena (UBT) was in power in the BMC. “At that time, smartphones were not as common as they are today. Therefore, laptops were provided. But now almost everyone has a smartphone, and the municipal agenda can be accessed easily on it,” she said. Pednekar questioned whether spending public money on another electronic device was justified when the stated objective was simply to make civic documents available digitally.