Mumbai: BMC’s Tablet Plan For 237 Corporators Stalls Over BJP’s ‘Swadeshi’ Device Demand

Mumbai's Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was set to equip its 237 corporators, including 10 nominated members, with 13-inch tablets. However, the plan has stalled over the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) demand for "swadeshi" devices. Currently, the tablets available on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal are mostly from foreign manufacturers such as China and Japan, leaving the civic administration in a dilemma between its digital goals and the BJP's preference for Indian-made products.

Despite the digital era, the BMC still depends on physical copies for various purposes, including committee and General Body agendas. While committee papers are sent to individual members, the monthly General Body agenda is personally delivered to each corporator by the Municipal Secretary’s Department staff. This practice, involving hundreds of pages, is costly, consuming crores of rupees annually in paper, printing, transportation, distribution, and overtime.

The BJP had suggested a dedicated app to provide corporators with instant access to agendas, proposals, and documents using unique proposal codes. The BMC had also considered procuring tablets through GeM. However, the advanced tablet models available on GeM are largely from foreign manufacturers, prompting the civic administration to halt the proposal.

The House Leader and BJP group leader in BMC, Ganesh Khankar, stated that while corporators are tech-savvy and prefer digital agendas, the plan will proceed only if Indian-made tablets are procured. The search for suitable devices has been unsuccessful, leading to the cancellation of the proposal.

The BMC has previously attempted digital initiatives but with limited success. In 2012, the corporation distributed laptops worth Rs 35,000 to corporators to cut down on paperwork and enable digital tracking of ward-level development works. However, the laptops were returned five years later, with an option to retain them for just Rs 1,000.

In 2017, the BMC proposed replacing laptops with tablets/iPads, claiming they would be more practical and user-friendly. Yet, the proposal never materialized. For information on budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai and surrounding areas, visit: https://budgetproperties.in/.