NMMC to spend R50 L to buy tablet computers for corporators

CBD BELAPUR: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation ( NMMC), in a bid to keep in tune with modern technology, is set to give its 94 corporators, tablet computers. A provision of Rs50 lakh has been made in the annual budget for the same.

The decision was taken by the general body of the corporation, which approved the annual budget.

The agendas as well as the resolutions of the NMMC’s meetings are presently sent physically to all the members at their residential address. Invites to official programmes too have to be sent physically.

Delays in receiving documents and the difficulty in preserving hard copies for future reference have prompted the administration to provide tablet computers to the corporators.

While several corporators have welcomed the move, a few are wondering the purpose of the tablets.

It is believed that many of the corporators are uneducated while even fewer are computer savvy.

“This is the 21st century, the tablets will ensure that agendas are not be missed. We can immediately go through the minutes of the meetings,” the chairman of the standing committee Sampat Shevale said. There has also been a move to install Marathi language software on the tablet to help those who are uncomfortable with English, he added.

Asking for proper training to use the tablet, Congress corporator Dashrath Bhagat said, “Unless corporators are explained how to use the tablet, it will not be of much use. The administration should ensure that public money is not wasted by simply handing them out.”