The core values of Digital India are embedded in making India a digitally empowered nation, which helps our society, culture and environment. Breaking the status quo remains one of the pillars of this mission.
Continuing with this vision, Indian Govt. has now introduced a brilliant change into the system, which can save lakhs of trees and crores of tax-payers money; and set a new benchmark for e-Governance.
PIB has informed that Indian Govt. will now stop all physical printing of official Gazette notifications, all over the country; and switch to ePublishing them. This single masterstroke will save 3.5 crore pages of such Gazette notifications, which are published by the Govt. every year.
Besides saving Rs 40 crore annually (which is not a big deal); this move will help to save 90 tonnes of paper every year, which translates to thousands of trees which would be saved from being destroyed.
If we add on the insane amount of power, ink, chemicals, dyes, colors and more such ingredients to physically print 3.5 crore pages, every year, then eGovernance and Digital India will magically convert into a blessing.
As per the information received, all official Gazette notifications would now be published online at www.egazette.nic.in.
This move by Govt. has been initiated by Ministry of Urban Development under M.Venkaiah Naidu, who heads this ministry. As per the press release, Govt. was considering this move since long, but in the absence of a strong leadership, it was postponed till now.
Legality of Online Gazette?
Citizens can now simply download all official Gazette from this above mentioned website, and print them if required, without paying any fees to the Govt.
The press notification issued by Govt. of India clearly states that under Information Technology Act 2000, all downloaded and printed Gazette are sufficient for all legal and official purposes.
Gazettes are important legal documents, no doubt. In court cases, official transfers, and Govt. decisions, these gazettes play an important role to convey the latest changes/edits made in the laws and rules. With the Govt. conforming the legality of all online published gazettes, it becomes clear that eGovernance has taken a major leap into the future.
Besides saving 3.5 crore pages, 90 tonnes of paper, insane amount of ink, colors, dyes and power; this online gazette publishing will save lots of time for citizens. Earlier, it took weeks to get hold of the physical printed copy of a gazette, which would now be available within 5 days of receipt of the same from the concerned Govt. department/Ministry.
Kudos to Indian Govt. for introducing an excellent initiative of Digital India and eGovernance; it’s a new ‘e-chapter’ for India.
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