• Printing of Hansard costs around Rs.one million per day

 By Chaturanga Samarawickrama 

The Environment Ministry has decided to launch a plan of action to reduce the use of paper in Parliament under the theme “Paperless Parliament”. 

The decision was revealed during a meeting held at the ministry chaired by Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe and several Parliament officials. 

According to a proposal by Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, a preliminary discussion to execute this plan was held at the Ministry on Wednesday (22).  Minister Amaraweera said that a large number of books, pamphlets, and many paper-based documents have piled up on the table and that contributes to a great deal of environmental damage as well as a waste of resources on a daily basis. 

The Minister also said that the ministry would submit a proposal to make a paperless parliament.