Digital push poses crucial test for senior lawmakers in West Bengal

With the COVID-19 pandemic throwing up a new normal, many senior politicians, including ministers, are realising that necessity is the best teacher as they try hard to evolve as tech savvies.

But a few like Water Resources Investigation and Development Minister Soumen Mahapatra find old habits die hard. The 61-year-old minister recently confessed before the media that he did not feel comfortable videoconferencing.

“I am more at ease giving instructions to my officials after holding discussions with them face-to-face,” the minister said, adding now he had to take a little more precaution before such meetings.

It is this genre of leaders who are finding themselves caught in the vortex of digital push with more and more government works and even legislative businesses set to go online.

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Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee is toying with the idea of holding house committee meetings via videoconferencing and has even held discussions in this regard with senior leaders. “We are exploring the possibility of holding meetings of house committees and standing committees online. But no decision has been taken yet,” Banerjee said.

Apparently, it is because of some legislators’ inability to get accustomed to the new mode of communication that the holding of the assembly’s crucial meetings on camera is getting delayed, sources said.

The change, however, is imminent and sooner or later even likes of Mahapatras would be compelled to join the digital bandwagon. Assembly sources said that the Speaker is very keen to have virtual meetings and if everything goes according to the plan, such meetings will be convened very soon.

There has been a digital push even in the state government’s functioning. After Fire and Emergency Services Minister Sujit Bose recently tested positive for COVID-19, ministers, particularly those above 60, were asked to take a little more precaution and avoid physical contact with people.

They were asked to increase their social media presence. But many older generation politicians are not at all active on social media.

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One of the senior-most ministers in the incumbent government, Subrata Mukherjee, 74, says that he cannot even think of not communicating with his electorates directly. At the same time, however, he added, he was trying to adapt to the new requirement.

He said that an officer of his Panchayat department got an app installed in his handset which he now uses from time to time to conduct videoconferences with officials.

Food Minister Jyotipriya Mallick is another leader who prefers working from office over ‘work from home’ and has been regularly attending office at Khadya Bhavan in Mirza Ghalib Street during the entire lockdown period. Being a diabetic, however, he needs to be extra cautious and is seen donning gloves and mask all the time.

However, for interacting with district officials and ration dealers, even he cannot avoid taking the virtual route. He uses the Zoom app for video communication.