{"id":106632,"date":"2026-06-03T23:14:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=106632"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:14:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T17:44:41","slug":"prs-report-flags-issues-in-state-legislatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/prs-report-flags-issues-in-state-legislatures\/","title":{"rendered":"PRS Report Flags Issues in State Legislatures, Key Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Why in the News?: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025 revealed that Indian state legislatures passed over 600 Bills in 2025, with nearly 30% of them cleared on the very day of introduction. While legislative productivity increased compared to 2024, the report highlights serious concerns regarding legislative scrutiny, deliberation, and institutional functioning in state assemblies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Key Issues Highlighted by the PRS Report<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Key Issues Highlighted by the PRS Report<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is a report by <\/span><b>PRS Legislative Research<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that analyses the functioning of <\/span><b>state legislatures in India<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including sittings, bills passed, budget scrutiny, and institutional performance across 27 states and UTs. The report flags following issues in the working of State Legislatures:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Decline in Quality of Legislative Deliberation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State legislatures passed over 600 Bills, but nearly <\/span><b>30% were passed on the same day of introduction<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, limiting scrutiny and debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Low Sitting Days and Limited Legislative Time:\u00a0 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State assemblies functioned for an <\/span><b>average of only 24 days in 2025<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with some states like Nagaland meeting for just 7 days.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some states have established minimum targets for annual sitting days, either through legislation or the Rules governing their procedures. Barring Himachal Pradesh, no state met its prescribed target.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2025, Legislative Councils met for an average of 26 days, ranging from 11 days in Telangana to 38 days in Maharashtra.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Symbolic Compliance with Constitutional Provisions: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although all states technically complied with <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/article-174-of-indian-constitution\/\" target=\"_blank\">Article 174<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (six-month gap between two sessions)<\/span><b>,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> many did so through minimal or token sittings, for example:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Assam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: One-day session between March and November<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Gujarat<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Three-day session after March adjournment<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Meghalaya<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Nearly six-month gap between sessions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Working Hours of State Legislatures: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On average, state assemblies met for 133 hours, and there was a wide variation in sitting duration across states. Maharashtra met for nine hours per sitting while West Bengal met for three hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Weak Committee System and Scrutiny Mechanisms: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Very few Bills are referred to committees, with most legislatures bypassing detailed examination.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2025, in the six states for which data was available, only 5% of Bills introduced were referred to committees.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This reduces expert scrutiny, public consultation, and evidence-based law-making, weakening legislative quality.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Executive Dominance over Legislatures<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Law-making is increasingly executive-driven, with legislatures often functioning as approving bodies rather than deliberative institutions ensuring accountability and checks on the executive.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Weak Budget Scrutiny<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: State legislatures spend <\/span><b>only 8 days on budget discussions on average<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Unlike Parliament, most states <\/span><b>lack detailed committee-based examination of ministry budgets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leading to limited scrutiny and rushed financial discussion.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Vacancy in Deputy Speaker Post<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><b>Article 178 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of the Constitution requires every Legislative Assembly to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, as of May 2026, <\/span><b>eight states and UTs did not have a Deputy Speaker<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Jharkhand, the post has remained vacant for over 20 years, while the current Assembly in Uttar Pradesh has not elected one after four years of its term.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Overuse of Ordinance Route<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: In 2025, 127 ordinances were promulgated. This marks an increase from 100 Ordinances issued in 2024.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Karnataka and Meghalaya issued more Ordinances than in 2024, while Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra recorded a decline<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Governor\u2019s Assent and Federal Tensions<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Delays and discretionary handling of Bills under <\/span><b>Article 200 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">create uncertainty in law implementation and highlight tensions in Centre\u2013State legislative relations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Broader Constitutional and Democratic Concerns<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The findings of the PRS report point towards a deeper structural issue in India\u2019s federal democracy:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Erosion of deliberative democracy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Legislatures are increasingly functioning as approval bodies rather than forums for debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Executive dominance<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Rapid passage of Bills indicates growing executive control over legislative processes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Weak institutional accountability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Limited scrutiny reduces checks and balances on government decisions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Decline in federal legislative culture<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: State legislatures are not fully exercising their constitutional role as independent law-making bodies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This raises concerns about the health of India\u2019s federal legislative architecture, where state assemblies are constitutionally expected to act as strong pillars of governance and accountability.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Way Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening the functioning of state legislatures requires structural, procedural, and institutional reforms to restore their role as effective deliberative bodies:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">State legislatures should adopt <\/span><b>minimum mandatory sitting days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, in line with NCRWC recommendations, to ensure adequate time for debate, scrutiny, and oversight.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>committee system must be strengthened<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and made mandatory for significant Bills, enabling detailed examination, expert inputs, and evidence-based lawmaking.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Same-day passage of Bills should be discouraged<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, except in exceptional or emergency situations, to preserve legislative deliberation and democratic scrutiny.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All constitutional and institutional <\/span><b>vacancies<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, especially the <\/span><b>Deputy Speaker under Article 178<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, should <\/span><b>be filled in a time-bound manner<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to ensure procedural stability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Budget discussions must be expanded and structured<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with sufficient time allocated for departmental scrutiny to strengthen financial accountability.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Capacity building of legislators should be enhanced<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> through training, research support, and better access to legislative analysis to improve the quality of debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Greater transparency in the legislative process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including advance publication of Bills and wider public consultation, should be institutionalised to improve legitimacy and trust.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>use of ordinances under Article 213 should be strictly limited<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, ensuring they remain instruments of necessity rather than a substitute for legislative debate.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PRS Report on State Legislatures reveals low sitting days, same-day passage of Bills, weak committee oversight, and challenges to democratic accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":106606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[7947],"class_list":{"0":"post-106632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-studies","8":"tag-prs-report-flags-issues-in-state-legislatures","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106632"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106636,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106632\/revisions\/106636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}