Kerala tops in 2021 Assembly Sittings

Tags: National News

According to PRS Legislative Research (PRS), Kerala, which slipped to eighth place in the state assembly sittings in 2020 during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, ranks first in 2021.

Important facts

• The Kerala Legislative Assembly met for 61 days in 2021, the highest for any state.

• Kerala's performance in 2021 was impressive as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in this year was higher as compared to the year 2000.

• Between 2016 and 2019, Kerala had the distinction of being at the top with an average sitting of 53 days.

• The state legislature, Kerala (Left Democratic Front in power since May 2016) promulgated 144 ordinances, the highest in the country last year.

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

Other states

• Kerala was followed by Odisha - 43 days, Karnataka - 40 days and Tamil Nadu - 34 days.

• Sittings in 28 state legislatures and one union territory legislature took place for less than 20 days.

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

• The figures for Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab were 17, 16 and 11 respectively.

• Andhra Pradesh with 20 ordinances and Maharashtra with 15 followed Kerala, wherein Bills replacing 33 ordinances became Acts.

• Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh also issued ordinances to give effect to budget proposals.

• Education was 21% among the subjects covered in the bills passed in 2021, followed by taxation - 12%, local government - 10%, and land and law and order - 4%.

The minimum sitting rule

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

• The minimum sitting should be 60 days as per the conduct of business of Karnataka Government in the State Legislature Act.