Kerala tops in Assembly sittings in 2021: study

The State promulgated 144 ordinances despite holding sittings for 61 days

Kerala, which slipped to the eighth slot in holding the sittings of the State Assembly during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, got back to the first place in 2021, with its House sitting for 61 days, the highest for any State.

The southern State’s showing in 2021 was impressive as the year saw the more virulent second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, between 2016 and 2019, it had the distinction of remaining at the top with an average of 53 days.

Despite enjoying the record of having the highest number of sittings during 2021 for any State legislature, Kerala had promulgated 144 ordinances, also the highest in the country last year.

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

Making the findings in its study on the functioning of State Assemblies for 2021, the PRS Legislative Research (PRS), a New Delhi-based think tank, states that for the year in question, Odisha followed Kerala with 43 sitting days; Karnataka - 40 and Tamil Nadu - 34 days. But for the top three States, the average number of sitting days of State legislatures would have been far lower than the present figure of 21 days. Of the 28 State Assemblies and one Union Territory’s legislature, 17 met for less than 20 days. Of them, five — Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Delhi — met for less than 10 days.

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2000-02), headed by former Chief Justice of India M.N. Venkatachaliah, had prescribed that the Houses of State (/Union Territory) legislatures with less than 70 members — for example, Puducherry — should meet for at least 50 days a year and other Houses (Tamil Nadu), at least 90 days. (Ten fall under the first category and 20 under the second).

The Presiding Officers’ conference, held in Gandhinagar during January 2016, suggested State legislatures hold a minimum of 60 days of sittings in a year. Between 2016 and 2021, the PRS points out, 23 State Assemblies met for an average of 25 days.