The evaluation of the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), conducted by GRAAM for the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, is a comprehensive analysis of the implementation, usage, challenges, and future direction of this flagship digital legislation initiative. NeVA, launched under the Digital India programme, is designed to digitize and modernize the legislative processes across India’s State and Union Territory Legislatures. Building upon the successful e-Vidhan pilot in Himachal Pradesh in 2014, NeVA aims to create paperless legislatures by providing a unified, cloud-based, multilingual platform that supports the full range of legislative functions from question processing and bill management to committee operations and verbatim reporting. It is grounded in the principle of “One Nation, One Application” and seeks to enhance transparency, accessibility, and efficiency in lawmaking.

The evaluation focused on assessing NeVA’s implementation progress, identifying operational barriers, evaluating the adequacy of infrastructure and human resources, and analyzing user experiences. It adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative insights from 517 Key Informant Interviews across 25 legislative Houses with quantitative data from brief UI/UX surveys and infrastructure assessments. States and UTs were categorized into three groups based on their level of engagement with NeVA—those that had signed MoUs and received funding (Group A), those with signed MoUs awaiting DPR approvals (Group B), and those yet to adopt the platform (Group C).

Findings revealed significant variation in implementation progress, influenced by factors such as digital readiness, leadership will and support, administrative capacity, and inter-agency coordination. However, challenges such as infrastructure constraints, staffing shortages, limited user training, and delays in customizations were reported. Despite these hurdles, many Houses reported increased legislative efficiency, reduced paper use, and improved member engagement due to NeVA’s features like digital document access and remote submissions.

The study also highlighted the role of NeVA Seva Kendras in providing technical support and capacity building, although their establishment varied across states. The report emphasized the need for stronger institutional mechanisms, timely funding, responsive technical support, and improved user interfaces. It concluded that NeVA is a transformative step towards digital democracy, but its long-term success depends on sustained political leadership, decentralized problem-solving, investment in training, and integration of advanced technologies like AI to further streamline legislative operations. Recommendations included revising funding norms, enhancing human resource capabilities, upgrading infrastructure, and fostering citizen engagement through improved digital platforms.

Project Objective

The study sought to assess the rollout and impact of NeVA in digitizing legislative processes across India’s state and UT Legislatures, by examining implementation progress, identifying barriers, and recommending strategies to enhance efficiency, adoption, and citizen engagement.

Objectives:

1. To assess the current implementation status of NeVA across States and UTs, including MoU signings, DPR approvals, funding, training, and usage.
2. To identify technical, infrastructural, administrative, political, and financial challenges hindering NeVA implementation.
3. To evaluate the delays and gaps in MoU signing and DPR submission, especially among non-adopting states.
4. To examine the baseline digital readiness of legislatures and the integration of pre-existing systems with NeVA.
5. To measure progress against NeVA’s goals, including backend digitization and automation of legislative processes.
6. To review the adequacy of ICT infrastructure provided under NeVA.
7. To evaluate the usability and accessibility of NeVA’s user interface and user experience across modules.
8. To assess the sufficiency of human resources and institutional infrastructure supporting NeVA implementation.
9. To review capacity-building initiatives, including training programs and the role of NeVA Seva Kendras.
10. To analyze public engagement efforts, including the effectiveness of citizen-facing portals and dashboards.