A session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly is seen in progress in this file photo taken in September 2022. According to a report, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly recorded the lowest number of sittings and the second shortest duration among the state assemblies of India in 2022. (DIPR/Morung File Photo)
NLA discusses State budget for just one day
Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 1
State assemblies in India met for an average of 21 days in 2022; however, the Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) convened for just six days, representing the lowest number of sitting days in India, highlighted a report from think-tank PRS Legislative Research (PRS).
This figure falls 71.43% short of the national average.
The think-tank's 'Annual Review of State Laws 2022,' released on May 31, informed that only seven states in India met for more than 30 days in 2022.
Karnataka had the highest number of days with 45, followed by West Bengal (42) and Kerala (41). Among the North-East states, only Assam exceeded the national average of 21 sitting days, while Meghalaya and Mizoram had 15 each.
Apart from Nagaland, the state assemblies of Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura had the second lowest number of meetings in the country, with seven each, and Sikkim ranked third with 10 days. Data for Manipur was not available according to PRS.
According to PRS, 61% of the sitting days in state assemblies were allocated to budget sessions, and in most states, legislatures meet for two or three sessions in a year, including a longer budget session between January and March, followed by brief monsoon and winter sessions.
Twelve states, including five in the North-East Region, had only two sessions in 2022, as pointed out by the report.
Over the years, sitting days have declined across most states, the PRS said.
2nd lowest duration
Not only did Nagaland have fewer sessions, but it also had the second lowest average duration of sittings.
In 2022, the average duration of a sitting in the NLA was three hours, tying with Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, and West Bengal. Sikkim had the shortest duration per sitting, at two hours.
Meanwhile, the average duration of a sitting across 20 states in India, as per the report, was five hours. On average, sittings in Maharashtra lasted eight hours, the longest in India, followed by seven hours each in Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Goa.
However, the PRS shared that there could be significant variation in the duration of sittings within a state. For instance, in Chhattisgarh, while the average sitting lasted seven hours, one sitting that discussed a no-confidence motion went on for more than 13 hours, as added in the report.
Fastest to pass budget
Incidentally, Nagaland was also earned the distinction of being the fastest in discussing and passing the annual state budget.
According to the report, states discussed budgets for an average of eight days across India, whereas the NLA discussed and passed its budget within a single day in 2022.
Article 202 of the Constitution requires state governments to present the budget before the legislature every year and by conducting budget discussions and approvals, the legislature exercises financial scrutiny over the government, noted the PRS.
On average, 20 states discussed budgets for eight days in 2022. Tamil Nadu spent 26 days on the entire budget discussion, followed by Karnataka (15), Kerala (14), and Odisha (14). Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab discussed their budgets for two days each.
Moreover, Nagaland passed the fewest bills in 2022, with only three, compared to the average of 21 bills passed by the 28 states analysed in the report.
It is noteworthy that 56% of the bills were passed within a day of introduction across the states. Conversely, though, only around 5% of the bills were referred to the Committee of the Assembly for detailed examination.
The report
The report emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for a legislature in every state, and all 28 states of India, along with the union territories (UTs) of Delhi and Puducherry, have legislatures.
These legislatures have three primary responsibilities: discussing and passing bills, scrutinizing and approving government finances, and holding the government accountable, the PRS noted.
The report analysed the working of 30 state legislatures in 2022, focusing on their law-making role.
The data and information on state legislatures are not easily available, and this analysis is based on data obtained from state legislatures, state gazettes, and responses to Right to Information (RTI) requests, it added.
