Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Madhya Pradesh is set to start e-cabinet on the pattern of Telangana. The e-cabinet will work online. Chief Secretary Veera Rana held a meeting with the officers to discuss preparations for e-cabinet on Thursday.
Agenda for e-cabinet will be sent online to the ministers. The proposals to be put up before the cabinet will be sought online from various departments. The tips about the proposals to be placed before the cabinet from the finance and other departments will also be sought online. If a minister is unable to attend a cabinet meeting in Bhopal, he can virtually do so from the place where he will be, but his agenda should be available online. Once e-cabinet begins, the government will not take action on the hard copy of anything.
At present, the departments prepare proposals and make 50 copies of those proposals and send them to the cabinet. The chief secretary brings the issues – to be put up before the cabinet – to the notice of the Chief Minister and prepares a hard copy of the agenda accordingly. After the index of the agenda, précis of the proposals of all departments is put. It is then sent to the Chief Minister, the ministers, the CS and to the officials of the CM’s Secretariat. Once the e-cabinet begins, hard copy of agenda will not be sent to anywhere.
According to sources, there is a problem of maintaining secrecy in e-cabinet system. The issue cropped up in the meeting the Chief Secretary held with the officials. Most of the ministers do not work on computers. Their personal assistants do it. The cabinet agenda should be kept secret. According to rules, nobody, other than the minister concerned, should know of it. Once e-cabinet starts, the minister’s staff will know the agenda to be put up before the cabinet.
