Context: According to the PRS Legislative Research (PRS), Kerala Assembly stood at first place with its House sitting for 61 days, the highest for any State in 2021.

Key Highlights

Number of Sittings

• Odisha followed Kerala with 43 sitting days; Karnataka - 40 and Tamil Nadu - 34 days.

• Of the 28 State Assemblies and one Union Territory’s legislature, 17 met for less than 20 days.

• Of them, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Delhi met for less than 10 days.

Ordinances

• The Kerala government promulgated the highest number of Ordinances (144) followed by Andhra Pradesh (20) and Maharashtra (15). 

• Ordinances are promulgated by governments to take immediate action on any matter during the intervening period of two sessions of the legislature.

• States like Manipur, Odisha, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have laid down a minimum number of sitting days varying from 40 days in Punjab to 90 days in Uttar Pradesh.

• In 2005, the Karnataka Conduct of Government Business in the State Legislature Act was established with the stipulation of a minimum of 60 days,

Adoption of Bills by the State Assemblies

• 44% of the Bills adopted by 28 State Assemblies were passed within a day of their introduction.

• Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab and Bihar were among the eight States which passed all Bills on the day of introduction.

• Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha and Rajasthan took more than five days to pass a majority of their Bills.

• In Kerala, 94% of the Bills were passed after at least five days of their introduction in the legislature.

• In respect of Meghalaya, it was 80% and in the case of Karnataka, 70%.

Conclusion

• State Assemblies across India have worked almost normally in 2021 despite second and third Covid waves. However, the average number of days convened by the legislatures is still lower than the prescribed number.