Annual Review Of State Laws 2020:
The study report, “Annual Review of State Laws 2020,” which covered 19 States was released by the PRS Legislative Research (“PRS”), a New Delhi-based think tank.
- The Karnataka legislature, which is bicameral, met on 31 days last year, the highest for any State in 2020.
- It was followed by Rajasthan (29 days) and Himachal Pradesh (25 days).
- For comparison, Parliament met for 33 days last year.
- In 2020, the average number of sitting days for the 19 States was 18, which was 11 less than the four-year (2016-19) average of 29.
Number of bills
- As for the number of Bills passed last year, Karnataka again topped the list with 61 Bills, followed by Tamil Nadu (42) and Uttar Pradesh (37). For this purpose, Appropriation Bills were excluded.
- Among poor performers under this category, Delhi passed only one Bill; West Bengal passed two Bills, and Kerala three Bills.
- On the duration of time taken to pass Bills, the previous year saw 59% of the Bills being passed by the legislature of the States on the day of introduction.
- A further 14% was adopted within a day of being introduced.
- Only 9% of the Bills was passed more than five days after introduction, some of which were referred to committees for further examination.
