{"id":56302,"date":"2023-11-23T19:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T14:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/?post_type=current-affairs&#038;p=56302"},"modified":"2023-11-24T17:29:17","modified_gmt":"2023-11-24T11:59:17","slug":"data-point-sitting-in-state-legislative-assemblies","status":"publish","type":"current-affairs","link":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/current-affairs\/data-point-sitting-in-state-legislative-assemblies","title":{"rendered":"Data Point: Sitting in State Legislative Assemblies"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Context:<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>According to PRS legislative Research data, <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the average number of days the Assemblies meet has been shrinking across states in recent years.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Key findings:<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Shrinkage in average meeting days: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chhat\u00adtis\u00adgarh, Mizoram and Telangana<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where elections are underway, met for less than 30 days on average annually between 2019 and 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fall in average sittings: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compared to the previous term (2014-18), average sittings fell for all except <\/span><b>Rajasthan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which recorded a marginal increase, from 28 days to 29 in the current term.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fall was the sharpest for <\/span><b>MP<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where the Assembly met for barely 16 days. In 2014-2018, it had met for 27 days.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Chhattisgarh, the legislature\u2019s business days shrank from 29 to 23, and Telangana from 26 to 15 <\/span><b>(see chart 1).<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-56516\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1.webp\" alt=\"sitting\" width=\"500\" height=\"595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1.webp 880w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1-252x300.webp 252w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1-860x1024.webp 860w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1-768x915.webp 768w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-37-1-360x429.webp 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Outlier: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Karnataka Legislative Assembly met for 45 days in 2022, the highest among the 28 states and Union Territories (UTs) for which data is available.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">West Bengal and Kerala followed with 42 days and 41 days, respectively<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Other Findings:<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also found that <\/span><b>48% of Bills were passed in the five poll-bound states<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> within a day of their introduction.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This lack of scrutiny could lead to poorly drafted laws that harm citizens.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Performance of Women Legislature:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Women MLAs asked less than 20% of the questions in the five poll-bound states between 2018 and 2023.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-56515\" src=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-36-1.webp\" alt=\"sitting\" width=\"500\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-36-1.webp 906w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-36-1-300x213.webp 300w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-36-1-768x546.webp 768w, https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Untitled-36-1-360x256.webp 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Attendance:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The average MLA attendance in the five poll-bound states was below <\/span><b>90%.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This lack of participation could lead to a disconnect between the MLAs and their constituents.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Constitutional Provisions:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Article 174 of the Indian Constitution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> only specifies that the gap between two sittings of the state legislatures should not be more than six months.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it does not prescribe any number of sitting days for the legislatures.\u200b<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Reasons For Decreasing Sittings Of Assemblies:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Legislature Has No Power Over Its Sittings:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> In India, the governor of the state convenes the assembly on the recommendation of the Cabinet, thereby giving the state government control over the legislature\u2019s sittings.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since the legislature is expected to hold the government accountable, it must have the power to decide its sittings.\u200b<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Disruptions: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even during the few days that the assemblies meet, disruptions further reduce the time spent on deliberation on important issues of the state.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span style=\"font-size: 18pt;\"><b>Recommendation:\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> recommended that the \u201cHouses of state legislatures with less than 70 members should meet for at least 50 days <\/span><b>a year and other Houses for at least 90 days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">while the minimum number of days for sittings of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha should be fixed at 100 and 120 days respectively.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Statutory Backing: The Rajya Sabha<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is deliberating on a private member bill making it mandatory for Parliament to sit for 100 days.\u200b<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fixed Calendar:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This practice is followed in countries like <\/span><b>the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Hence, with fewer sittings, it becomes more important that the assembly remains productive whenever it is in session.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, it is useful to have a fixed calendar for sittings of the legislature so that other political developments do not affect its functioning.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>System of Standing Committee:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Over the years Parliament sittings have also declined however, the Parliament also has an active standing committee system.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These committees deliberate on various issues related to specific ministries and scrutinise legislation. Such a committee system is either absent in most state legislatures or inactive.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source: <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.business-standard.com\/india-news\/state-legislative-assemblies-have-been-meeting-for-fewer-days-shows-data-123112101328_1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><b>Business Standards<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context:  According to PRS legislative Research data, the average number of days the Assemblies meet has been shrinking across states in recent years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"paper-wise":[],"subject":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/56302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/current-affairs"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56302"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/56302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56519,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/current-affairs\/56302\/revisions\/56519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56302"},{"taxonomy":"paper-wise","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper-wise?post=56302"},{"taxonomy":"subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwonlyias.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject?post=56302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}