The governor was quoted saying that using digital methods has significantly reduced the printing of documents during the 2019-20 annual budget.
During address to the Assembly prior starting its budget session, Lal said, "It (the partial switchover) has reduced the printing of about 57 lakh pages which saved around 700 large trees."
Governor further added, in near future, the government will completely switch on to paperless budgeting. The state government, said Lal, has also introduced a single-page salary bill for its employees and pension papers are now being electronically processed through the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS).
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The state government has implemented the Odisha Secretariat Workflow Automation System (OSWAS) in all the departments and directorates, affirmed the governor. OSWAS provides an effective method of storing, maintaining and retrieving a large volume of data with minimum paperwork, easy monitoring and tracking of files, instant approvals and SMS alerts as reminders for urgent documents.