National Assembly Chairman Dahal Stresses Digital Parliament Expansion

Kathmandu. National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal has said that the digital parliament system should be expanded to the provincial assemblies and gradually to the local levels. He expressed this view while speaking at the program organized on Wednesday to launch the trial operation of the digital parliament platform. Dahal emphasized the need to expand the digital parliament platform to all three tiers to exchange information of the legislature. He stated that the work of the parliament's sessions, committees, and secretariat should be transformed from the traditional paper-based system to a technology-friendly system. He mentioned that the digital system will make parliamentary work faster, safer, transparent, and more effective. Speaking at the program, Chairman Dahal said, 'This is not just a technical change but also the foundation for the future transformation of our democratic institution. The managerial, legislative, and administrative functions of the federal parliament should be integrated into a digital system.' He added, 'This will help in organizing parliament's information, records, and activities, making them secure and easily accessible, as well as enhancing transparency, accountability, efficiency, and good governance.' Dahal said that parliament's information, records, and activities should be integrated into a digital system, making them secure and easily accessible. He stressed the need to preserve historical documents, reports, and decisions in a digital archive. He mentioned the need to classify the ideas expressed by MPs in the house thematically, linking them with the video of the respective meeting according to time. He said, 'It is necessary to arrange for classifying the ideas and statements expressed by the MPs in the house thematically and parliamentarily, linking them with the time of the video of the respective meeting, and preserving them for the long term.' He further said, 'This will help preserve our invaluable heritage for posterity and provide easy access to researchers and the general public.' He stated that artificial intelligence should be used, not just traditional automation, to facilitate legislative research and record retrieval. He said that a clear policy on digital integrity, data security, and data sovereignty is necessary for the reliability of the digital parliament system. He emphasized the need to ensure regular data backup, disaster recovery management, and secure storage of sensitive details including biometrics. Dahal said, 'It is equally important for us to move forward in making legislative research and record retrieval easier by using artificial intelligence, not just limiting ourselves to traditional automation. For this system to be reliable, policies related to digital integrity, data security, data sovereignty, transparency, information dissemination, and storage need to be clear.' He said that regular training and orientation for MPs, secretariat staff, and stakeholders are necessary to get them accustomed to using the new digital system, as the practice of reading paper documents still exists in the parliament. He said that the digital system should be connected to the provincial and local levels in line with the spirit of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference held in Sudurpashchim Province. He mentioned the need for a public portal where citizens can search for parliament's information, meetings, agendas, and video records, and a mobile app for MPs to view their personal details and attendance. He also said that electronic voting, open parliament, digital complaint registration and resolution, and monitoring systems should also be gradually included. He expressed confidence that the digital parliament will create an environment where not only MPs but also all Nepali citizens can easily obtain information related to the parliament.