Karnataka assembly sat for only 29 days in 2024, way short of mandated 60

Time of India

19-05-2025

Bengaluru: Legislative assemblies across the country convened only for an average 20 days in 2024, totalling an average 100 hours, and while Karnataka's assembly convened for a cumulative 29 days, it was way short of a self-imposed rule mandating a minimum 60 days a year.
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A report by PRS India, a legislative research firm, states no state legislature has met the mandatory number of session days, but they have together passed a staggering 500 bills and budgets worth over Rs 58 lakh crore.
Karnataka speaker UT Khader, while lamenting the huge drop in number of session days, said efforts are on to achieve the minimum target of 60 days. "However, I am happy that we made good use of the time when the House was in session," said Khader.
"There were instances last year when the session went past midnight. I also made it a point to give opportunities to all legislators, including newcomers, to participate in debates.
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As per self-drawn Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Legislative Assembly, the state legislature must have four sessions in a year. These include a joint sitting at the beginning of the year when the governor addresses both assembly and council, besides a budget, monsoon and winter session (in Belagavi).
The gap between each session should not be more than six months. Altogether, they must convene for a total 60 days.
But Karnataka has never met this target in the past decade. The average session days between 2017 and 2024 is 34, the PRS report states. With 29 days, Karnataka was fourth on the list of most days by a state assembly.
Odisha had the highest number of session days at 42, followed by Kerala (38 days) and West Bengal (36).
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Jammu & Kashmir (five days) and Nagaland (six days) had the lowest.
However, Karnataka fares poorly in terms of debating the state budget. The state legislature debated the budget for only three days in 2024, compared to an average seven days of other states. At 18 each, Kerala and Goa dedicated the highest number of days for debates on the budget, followed by Odisha and Rajasthan (16 days each).
Experts say until 2017, the average number of session days was 30.
"Session days began decreasing in the late 1990s, but it is alarming that it has declined to 20," said JC Madhuswamy, former minister for law and parliamentary affairs. "This suggests govts are not keen on debating issues related to people and administration."
Pointing to the suspension of 19 opposition MLAs from the assembly during the budget session in March as evidence, Arvind Bellad, BJP legislator and deputy LoP in the assembly, blamed Congress for the "lack of meaningful debate in the assembly".
"On one hand Congress has reduced the number of session days, while on the other it does not allow the opposition to debate issues," Bellad alleged. "The assembly passed controversial bills, including one seeking to provide 4% reservation for Muslims in govt contracts, without any debate. There is no point in boasting of passing the highest number of bills."