New Delhi, 2023 - Meetings of state assemblies lasted an average of 22 days, while some states met after long adjournments, with sessions lasting more than six months without proroguing the House amid clashes between state governments and governors.
According to a report by think tank PRS Legislative Research, state legislatures will sit for an average of 22 days in 2023 and the average duration of meetings was five hours.
It said that in 2023, seven states continued sessions for more than six months without adjournment and continued sessions with long gaps between meetings.
The Constitution mandates the State Legislative Session to be held at least once every six months. About 62 percent of the meetings took place during the budget session.The same session in Delhi ran from March to December 2023 with 1 meetings. The Punjab Assembly session held between March and October 2023 had 1 sittings.
Punjab had approached the Supreme Court in February 2023, saying that the Governor was not calling the budget session. The Court said that the Governor is bound to follow the advice of the State Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Assembly session 2023 in Rajasthan continued from January to August.In 2021 and 2022, there was only one session in Rajasthan, which continued from January to December.
In West Bengal, the session scheduled to begin in July 2023 was not postponed to March 2024, and the session held in February to pass the budget did not begin with the traditional address of the Governor.
The sessions continued for more than a year in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. In Sikkim, the session which was scheduled to begin in March 2022 was postponed to April 2023 itself. In Telangana, one session continued from September 2021 to August 2023, when the term of the House ended.Despite fewer sittings, state assemblies passed over 500 bills as well as state budgets worth over Rs 53 lakh crore in 2023.
In 2023, 44 percent of all bills passed in assemblies were passed within a day of their introduction.
The Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab assemblies passed all the bills on the day they were introduced or the next day.
In contrast, the Kerala and Meghalaya assemblies took more than five days to pass more than 90 per cent of their bills.
Whereas 59 percent of the bills got the approval of the Governor within a month. All the bills of seven states including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were approved within a month.The states with the highest percentage of bills (passed in 2023) that did not get approval within two months were Assam (80%), Nagaland (57%), Jharkhand (50%) and West Bengal (50%).
In West Bengal, on an average, a bill gets assent 92 days after it is passed. Other states where bills take relatively longer to get approved are Assam (73 days), Jharkhand (72), Kerala (67), and Himachal Pradesh. (55).
In November 2023, the Government of Kerala challenged the Governor's delay in approving eight bills in the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu and Telangana governments have also approached the Supreme Court on similar issues.Among states, Maharashtra Assembly meetings lasted for the most number of days (41), followed by West Bengal (40) and Karnataka (39). Assembly meetings in states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana lasted for less than 20 days.
The assemblies in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Uttarakhand met for less than a day.
According to a report by think tank PRS Legislative Research, state legislatures will sit for an average of 22 days in 2023 and the average duration of meetings was five hours.
It said that in 2023, seven states continued sessions for more than six months without adjournment and continued sessions with long gaps between meetings.
The Constitution mandates the State Legislative Session to be held at least once every six months. About 62 percent of the meetings took place during the budget session.The same session in Delhi ran from March to December 2023 with 1 meetings. The Punjab Assembly session held between March and October 2023 had 1 sittings.
Punjab had approached the Supreme Court in February 2023, saying that the Governor was not calling the budget session. The Court said that the Governor is bound to follow the advice of the State Cabinet.
Meanwhile, the Assembly session 2023 in Rajasthan continued from January to August.In 2021 and 2022, there was only one session in Rajasthan, which continued from January to December.
In West Bengal, the session scheduled to begin in July 2023 was not postponed to March 2024, and the session held in February to pass the budget did not begin with the traditional address of the Governor.
The sessions continued for more than a year in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. In Sikkim, the session which was scheduled to begin in March 2022 was postponed to April 2023 itself. In Telangana, one session continued from September 2021 to August 2023, when the term of the House ended.Despite fewer sittings, state assemblies passed over 500 bills as well as state budgets worth over Rs 53 lakh crore in 2023.
In 2023, 44 percent of all bills passed in assemblies were passed within a day of their introduction.
The Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab assemblies passed all the bills on the day they were introduced or the next day.
In contrast, the Kerala and Meghalaya assemblies took more than five days to pass more than 90 per cent of their bills.
Whereas 59 percent of the bills got the approval of the Governor within a month. All the bills of seven states including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were approved within a month.The states with the highest percentage of bills (passed in 2023) that did not get approval within two months were Assam (80%), Nagaland (57%), Jharkhand (50%) and West Bengal (50%).
In West Bengal, on an average, a bill gets assent 92 days after it is passed. Other states where bills take relatively longer to get approved are Assam (73 days), Jharkhand (72), Kerala (67), and Himachal Pradesh. (55).
In November 2023, the Government of Kerala challenged the Governor's delay in approving eight bills in the Supreme Court. Tamil Nadu and Telangana governments have also approached the Supreme Court on similar issues.Among states, Maharashtra Assembly meetings lasted for the most number of days (41), followed by West Bengal (40) and Karnataka (39). Assembly meetings in states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana lasted for less than 20 days.
The assemblies in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Uttarakhand met for less than a day.
