11 March 2026·PIB

Tripartite MoUs with 28 State/UT Legislatures and concerned State Governments for implementation of NeVA

In this note

1. At a Glance

NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application) is a cloud-based "One Nation–One Application" platform to make all State/UT Legislative proceedings paperless and digital. [1][2]
Government of India has signed Tripartite MoUs with 28 State/UT Legislatures and respective State Governments for its rollout. [1]
Implemented as a Mission Mode Project under the Digital India Programme, with Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) as the Nodal Ministry. [2][3]
High UPSC relevance: intersection of cooperative federalism, e-Governance, legislative reform, and Digital India.

PIB release dated 11 March 2026: MoS (I/C) Law & Justice and MoS Parliamentary Affairs Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal informed Parliament that GoI has signed Tripartite MoUs with 28 State/UT Legislatures including Punjab for NeVA implementation. [1]
Recent onboardings: Puducherry (19th) on 17 June 2025 and Delhi Vidhan Sabha (20th) on 4 August 2025 — Delhi went live in under 100 days of MoU signing. [2][4]

Originated as e-Vidhan, piloted in Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly which became India's first fully paperless/digital House. [2]
Scaled nationally as NeVA — a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under Digital India. [2]
Punjab Legislative Assembly onboarded NeVA on 21 September 2023, becoming a fully digital House. [1]
Nagaland was an early adopter; subsequent rapid rollout 2023-2025 culminated in 28 MoUs. [2]

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA). [1][2]
Technology partner: National Informatics Centre (NIC), MeitY (implements the application). [2]
Umbrella programme: Digital India — Mission Mode Project. [2]
Coverage universe: 31 States/UTs with Legislatures; 28 MoUs signed so far. [1][2]
Funding pattern (standard MMP): Centre-State 60:40; 90:10 for NE & Hill States; 100% for UTs (general MMP norm under Digital India).
Structure: Tripartite MoU = (i) Government of India / MoPA, (ii) concerned State Legislature, (iii) concerned State Government. [1]
Functions digitised: List of Business, Starred/Unstarred Questions & Replies, Notices, Bills, Debates, Committee Reports, Proceedings. [1]
Design philosophy: "One Nation – One Application". [2]

Administrative / Federal

Tripartite structure respects legislative autonomy of State Assemblies while routing Centre funding via the State Government. [1]
MoPA acts as nodal coordinator; NIC provides backend; State Legislature Secretariat is end-user. [2]

Legal / Constitutional

Touches Article 194 (powers/privileges of State Legislatures) and Article 208 (rules of procedure) — digitisation does not abridge these; MoU is enabling not statutory.
Reinforces Article 105/194 transparency through public access to debates and proceedings. [2]

Scientific / Technological

Cloud-hosted, mobile-ready application; integrates live-streaming, e-Notice, e-Bills, digital signatures. [2]
Leverages MeghRaj cloud / NIC infrastructure. [2]

Ethical / Governance

Advances transparency and accountability by opening legislative records to citizens. [2]
Environmental co-benefit: eliminates printing of voluminous House papers → reduces paper consumption. [2]

Economic

17 June 2025: Puducherry Legislative Assembly becomes 19th Legislature on NeVA; inaugurated by Union Minister Dr L. Murugan. [4]
4 August 2025: Delhi Vidhan Sabha goes live as 20th Legislature, fastest onboarding (<100 days from MoU). [2]
11 March 2026: MoPA confirms 28 Tripartite MoUs signed, including Punjab. [1]
Year-End Review 2025 of MoPA flags NeVA as flagship deliverable. [5]

NeVA full form: National e-Vidhan Application. [2]
Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (NOT MeitY, NOT Law & Justice). [1][2]
Implementing tech body: National Informatics Centre (NIC). [2]
Umbrella scheme: Digital India — Mission Mode Project. [2]
Tagline: "One Nation – One Application". [2]
First fully digital legislature using e-Vidhan: Himachal Pradesh. [2]
Punjab onboarded on 21 September 2023. [1]
Puducherry: 19th; 17 June 2025. [4]
Delhi Vidhan Sabha: 20th; 4 August 2025. [2]
Tripartite MoU parties: GoI + State Legislature + State Government. [1]
Total States/UTs with Legislatures: 31; MoUs signed: 28. [1][2]
Functions covered: List of Business, Questions/Replies, Notices, Bills, Debates, Proceedings. [1]
Minister who informed Parliament (Mar 2026): Arjun Ram Meghwal, MoS (I/C) Law & Justice and MoS Parliamentary Affairs. [1]

GS-II: Parliament and State Legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business; e-Governance—applications, models, successes; Cooperative federalism.
GS-III: Awareness in IT — Digital India MMPs.
Plausible question stems: 1. "NeVA exemplifies cooperative federalism in the digital age." Discuss with reference to its tripartite institutional design. 2. Examine the role of e-Governance initiatives like NeVA in deepening transparency and accountability in State Legislatures. 3. Critically evaluate the challenges of scaling Mission Mode e-Governance projects across States with divergent capacities, using NeVA as a case.

Digital India Programme & Mission Mode Projects — parent umbrella of NeVA.
National Informatics Centre (NIC) — implementing tech arm.
Article 194 & Privileges of State Legislatures — constitutional backdrop.
Anti-Defection Law (10th Schedule) — adjacent legislative-procedure topic.
e-Sansad / Digital Sansad — parallel initiative for Parliament.
MeghRaj (GI Cloud) — hosting backbone for govt apps.
Cooperative & Competitive Federalism — framework for Centre-State scheme design.
PRS Legislative Research outputs — open-data complement to NeVA.

Confusing Nodal Ministry: it is MoPA, not MeitY or Ministry of Law & Justice.
Confusing e-Vidhan (state legislatures) with Digital Sansad / e-Sansad (Parliament).
Wrong "first digital House": it is Himachal Pradesh, not Nagaland or Punjab.
Mis-stating MoU as bipartite — it is Tripartite (GoI + State Govt + State Legislature).
Treating NeVA as statutory — it operates via MoU, not a Central Act.
Mixing up the Delhi (20th, Aug 2025) vs Puducherry (19th, Jun 2025) sequence.