Gazette notifications to go completely digital

NEW DELHI: Starting on Thursday, physical printing of Gazette notifications of Central government will be discontinued. All such notifications will switched over to e-publishing and "hard copies" won't be available any more.

The urban development ministry, which is responsible for the directorate of printing, has taken this decision, sources said. The decision is being seen as a step towards digital India and a greater environment-friendly move besides huge savings in terms of printing of hard copies.

Sources said the Information Technology Act, 2000 says that any requirement of publication in the official gazette shall be deemed to have been satisfied, if such a matter is published in the "official gazette or electronic gazette".

At present, all gazette notifications from ministries and departments are printed in the government press and simultaneously published by the publication department on e-gazette website. "It is observed that the current procedure sometimes leads to delays up to two months depending on the size and volume of gazette notifications," said a ministry source.

E-gazette was launched in April 2008 and the website is now popular. Officials said the UD ministry had referred the proposal to law ministry which had given the go-ahead.

While the decision to switch over to e-notification as the only mode is being seen as progressive, officials said the government should also consider the proposal to do away with huge number of hard copies printed for replies to parliament questions. "That's a huge wastage and in several cases we find the questions asked are same from different members and even same questions get repeated in every session," said a government official.

He added the answers can be mailed to the members concerned and even the answers can be displayed electronically for the benefit of all members.

Source | Times of India | 30 September 2015