Politicians Get iPad Lessons To Cut Paperwork

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Members of Parliament are taking lessons on how to use iPads and other tablet computers after being given a special budget to buy technology that cuts down on paperwork. Each of the 790 lawmakers, many of whom are elderly, has been granted Rs. 50,000 to invest in one of the devices in an attempt to tackle India's infamously laborious red tape.

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I am a strong supporter of emails and paperless operations, but this just doesn’t make sense (to me). Judging by their comments - most (if not all of the MP’s) are intellectually challenged. Don’t frown at me. We are talking about a group that includes individuals who go to the UNSC and don’t know whose speech they are reading!

I am not even sure if they would have understood what the hell the introductory lesson was for! If that wasn’t bad enough, check this out:

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Many veteran MPs such as E.M.S. Natchiappan, 63, of the ruling Congress party, bring their iPads to work daily. They are allowed to use the tablets in the chamber to make notes but no Internet access is available.

So, what do they do? Exchange their iPads when they want to pass on the notes / question list? Or is the iPad only to play Angry Bird while they are bored during the parliament session? May be it’s just to take notes for future reference. Well, if that was the case - then why an iPad / Galaxy tablet? A simple voice recorder would have served the purpose (and wouldn’t necessarily require a budget of IRS 50,000).

What ticked me off the most was a comment left by one of the readers on the NDTV article: 

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Balamurugan Arumugam 6 minutes ago Posted via NDTV iPhone App: Good move. This can help to bring efficiency and transparency in governance.

How the hell does using an iPad or a Galaxy tab help bring transparency in governance?

Mr. Balamurugan (I am assuming: no relation to QuickGun Murugan) – Do you even know what is the meaning of the word transparency? Perhaps the next time you decide to share your brilliant views on the web, you should use your iPhone to Google up what the words mean before firing up your NDTV iPhone App.

Sometimes I feel we are just a bit too hard on the politicians. An idiotic population deserves an idiotic political system filled with idiotic characters.