Andhra Pradesh cabinet attends the first ever paper less meeting.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is trying hard to keep up with his image of 'CEO of Andhra Pradesh Inc.' that he had crafted for himself in his earlier tenure.
To mark 100 days of his government, Mr Naidu today held an e-cabinet, a paperless cabinet meeting, that's being claimed to be a first for the country.
At the meeting, the many faces in the Andhra Pradesh cabinet reflected the many moods: Tech-savvy or overawed, dazed or absorbed, learning slowly or lending a helping hand.
B Gopalakrishna, Environment and Forests Minister of Andhra Pradesh said it is only appropriate that the tech-savvy Chandrababu Naidu should have taken the first step in this direction. He said having information available at hand makes decision making easy and fast.
"Whoever has information, looks intelligent and powerful. The iPad will enable that. Everybody should know. As long as you don't know swimming or driving, it is very difficult. Once you know, it is very simple. Like that only computers also. Man who is really known as computer-centric person, Chandrababu Naidu, he is only next to Modi in bringing this kind of change," Mr Gopalakrishna said.
A specially designed app, eCabinet enables ministers to log in with a password and access the agenda of the Cabinet meeting in electronic form but prevents the user from sharing it with anyone.
With not all ministers tech-savvy, a special training camp was organised recently when the iPads were distributed along with the passwords.
"What would have taken several hours got done in just over an hour because information was easily available at our fingertips," said a cabinet minister.
Mr Naidu's admirers point out that he is after all the first to start path-breaking changes in e-governance, with initiatives like e-seva, HARD and so on. "He is a trendsetter and soon everyone else will be doing this," said a software firm techie based in Hyderabad.
Critics however say Chandrababu Naidu seems to be a man in a hurry. At a time when he should be focusing on basics like building a new capital and an office for his colleagues to sit in, Mr Naidu wants his cabinet to leapfrog into the digital future. Citizens would hope the e-cabinet proves to be more than just a charming photo-opportunity.