New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government's plans to go paperless has moved a step further with the government deciding to put all Cabinet notes on Kindle devices.
The electronic device will be used by ministers in meetings and after that these devices will be returned to the Cabinet Secretariat. National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been instructed to implement the plan within six months.
As reported by The Indian Express, the move is also aimed at blocking the ‘leakage of information' on critical issues to the media before any decision is taken.
The device will be loaded with Cabinet notes and annexures by the Cabinet Secretariat when the ministers will arrive for any meeting and it will provide them with everything from minute of meetings to dissent notes for their convenience.
To ensure security, the notes in the device will get erased if there will be any attempt to access its ports with a wire (USB link) or if there will be an attempt to copy the information even through wireless using technologies like Bluetooth.
Ministers will also be helped with digital signatures so that if they have to sign on the Cabinet decisions, they could do that immediately using the device.
Kindle was picked as a preferred choice, after a comparative study of all such devices was done by NIC, for its ease of access and absolute secrecy.
The ministries, however, will continue to use paper to communicate amongst themselves while drafting Cabinet notes which will be circulated to every ministry as per the current practice.
Transfer to the electronic format will happen only when all the ministers will offer their comments and the file will have to be submitted to the cabinet secretary. The paper files will be retained by the Secretariat only and the decisions taken in the Cabinet will be captured in the electronic format and released to Press Information Bureau or other agencies eventually.
The move is modeled on Andhra Pradesh government's e-governance structure.
