The Annual review of State Laws, 2021

The Annual review of State Laws, 2021

News: Recently, a report titled ''The Annual Review of State Laws, 2021'' was released by PRS Legislative Research. As per the report, Kerala got first place in 2021, with its House sitting for 61 days, the highest for any State.

Key Findings:
• Sittings - States such as 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. In 2005, Karnataka even came out with a law the Karnataka Conduct of Government Business in the State Legislature Act with the stipulation of a minimum of 60 days
• Passage of Bills - 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.
• Most prominent discussion during Sittings - Education was the top priority with 21% of all laws passed in 2021 related to this subject. After Education, Taxation and Urban Governance accounted for the largest share of state laws passed in 2021.

How often are state assembly supposed to meet?
• According to the Presiding officers conference, held in Gandhinagar in 2016, suggested that state legislatures hold a minimum of 60 days of sittings in a year.
• As pointed out by PRS, between 2016 and 2021, 23 state assemblies met for an average of 25 days.
• According to National commission to review the working of the constitution (2000-2002), headed by CJI M.N Venkatachaliah, had prescribed that houses of state legislature with less than 70 members should meet at least 50 days a year. Other houses with more than 70 members must meet at least 90 days a year.