TOPIC : AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE WORKING OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES OF THE STATES IN INDIA Lukmaan IAS Editorials

It is a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every two years. The Legislative Council of Bihar was formed in 1912 with a total of 43 members belonging to different categories. One-Third member of whose members are elected in every Two years.

Like most of the Indian political arrangements, the bicameral legislature at the central and provincial levels was introduced by the British. However, passing a resolution in the Legislative Assembly is not enough to abolish or establish a Legislative Council. A Bill for such creation or dissolution has to be passed by Parliament. The Assam Assembly in 2010 and the Rajasthan Assembly in 2012 passed resolutions for setting up a Legislative Council in their respective states. And the Bill for abolishing the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council has not yet been introduced in Parliament. The West Bengal Legislative Council remained in existence till 1969.

The resolution was thus passed by the TMC government’s legislative assembly. A member of the council is eligible to become the Chief Minister. It is one of the most important powers of the members of the legislative council. Bills presented in the legislative assembly are sent to the legislative council for approval.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES OF THE STATES IN INDIA: ANALYSING THE PERFORMANCE

The State Legislative Council is the Upper house of the state legislature. The state governments need to seriously look into how to make state assemblies more transparent and effective. The number of state assembly sittings in India in recent times is extremely low. In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of the State Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision for joint sitting. In such cases, the State Legislative Council can delay the legislation by a maximum of 4 months .

In eight states including Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, and Bihar, all Bills were passed on the same day as they were introduced. Between 2016 and 2021, 23 state assemblies met for an average of 25 days. States which met for fewer days include Tripura , Punjab , Haryana , Uttarakhand , and Delhi . A low number of sitting days impacts legislative scrutiny of Bills, budgets, and other issues. Today, legislatures draw their talent both from the grassroots level and the higher echelons of learning. The advantages of having a bicameral legislature are well-known.

Article 169 speaks about the abolition or creation of legislative councils. States which have a bicameral legislature can abolish their legislative council and states that wish to have a bicameral legislature, can opt for the creation of a legislative council. States where a legislative council is already present, can be abolished if deemed fit and proper, by a similar manner of voting and special majority. A resolution for abolition is presented to the legislative assembly of the state, as per provisions of Article 168 of the Indian Constitution.

It provides more representation from people having diverse backgrounds such as arts, science, literature etc. and makes the state legislature broad-based. It facilitates representation of eminent professionals and experts. Uttar Pradeshhas the biggest Legislative Council with a total of 100 seats.

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All the important updates based on current affairs are included in this Daily Current Affairs 2022 article. A low number of sittings can’t hold government departments, ministers or MLAs accountable for their work and promises made on the floor of the assembly. Many State assemblies misuse this provision and their sessions last for only one to two days. The State Legislative Council, except in the area of dissolution of state government and passing of money bills, in which case the State Legislative Assembly has the ultimate authority. If a motion of no confidence is passed against the ruling majority party or coalition.

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council had been formed via the Government of India Act, 1935 and had its first meeting in 1937. It has been a permanent body ever since with one-third of its members retiring every two years. The legislature is a crucial pillar which takes charge upon a host of duties such as making laws, scrutinising the annual budget, power to amend the Constitution if need be, etc. In this article, we will learn about how the Indian government performs its administrative functions with the help of a bicameral parliament at the centre.

The powers of legislative councils are advisory in nature and ultimately, the decisions are made by the legislative assembly. This is why it is said to be the house where power truly resides. This is to an extent similar to the status of Lok Sabha in Parliament.

The Legislative Council of Assam first met on 6th January, 1913 at 11 a.m. At Shillong, which was presided over by Sir Archdale Easle, the Chief Commissioner of Assam. 1919, the strength of the Legislative Council was raised to 53 members with effect from Ist April, 1921 of which 41 were elected members and the remaining 12 were nominated. Recent efforts of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passing a resolution to abolish its Council has put a question mark on the utility of having an upper house. The upper house makes the process of consultation more broad based which could result in making laws more effective and less prone to revisions.

The Shakti Criminal Laws Bill, 2020 was introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative assembly on December 14, 2020. It was referred to a Joint Committee of both Houses on the same day. Citizens should collectively demand mandatory disclosure of the text of legislative debates and questions on assembly websites by all states under the RTI Act, 2005.

Daily Current Affairs

The states can also have two houses namely Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council just like Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at Union level. Rather than fulfilling the lofty objective of getting intellectuals into the legislature, the forum is likely to be used to accommodate party functionaries who fail to get elected. There is no upper limit or maximum limit when it comes to members of a legislative council. Uttar Pradesh legislative council has a number of members as high as 100 members. Legislative Council is the upper house of a state legislature and the lower house is the Legislative Assembly . The Indian Constitution does not make it a mandatory requirement for every state to have a bicameral legislature.

After independence and post abolition of Bombay Legislative Council, the province of Bombay was disintegrated and two separate states were formed – Gujarat and Maharashtra. While Gujarat chose to be unicameral, Maharashtra reformed its legislative council. Parliament of India can create or abolish the State Legislative Council of a state if that state’s legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority. Less number of assembly sessions makes the legislative debates difficult and directly affect the quality of bills passed by the assemblies, which hurt the democratic setup of the nation.

Role of a Legislative Council

It is pertinent to note that the media, which is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy in India, has gained recognition among lawmakers and policymakers in the country. All these pillars work on the basis of independence, natural justice and separation of powers, yet are united with bicameral states in india 2021 the common goal of upholding democracy. A money bill can only be introduced in the State Legislative Assembly. In bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the State Legislative Assembly, it is sent to the State Legislative Council, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days.

• The strength of the Legislative Council was not less than 21 and not more than 22 members.
• While some state legislatures publish data on a regular basis, many do not have a systematic way of reporting legislative proceedings and business.
• And unlike the Center, where there is only one law-making institution at the state level, and it is called as State Legislative Assembly or “Vidhan Sabha” in Hindi.
• The Legislative Council of Assam first met on 6th January, 1913 at 11 a.m.
• Legislative Council of a state comprises of not more than one third of the total seats in state Legislative Assembly and the numbers of seats for a Legislative Council should in no case be less than 40.

Thus, Nagaland becomes an example to be followed by other states so as to ensure the highest levels of transparency in legislative assemblies and councils. In the absence of a robust committee system and fewer working days, state legislatures barely spend any time scrutinising legislative proposals brought before them. After the partition of India, Sylhet district of Assam was transferred to the then East Pakistan by a referendum and the strength of the Assembly was reduced to 71. However, after Independence, the strength of members were again raised to 108. The bicameral Assam Legislative Assembly became unicameral with the abolition of the Assam Legislative Council in 1947. In the years that followed, Assam was truncated to several smaller states.

Following the Indian independence and formulation of the constitution, the arrangement was to a great extent continued. The Lok Sabha was to be elected by the people, while Rajya Sabha was by elected representatives at the state level. Article 169 of the Constitution empowers the Legislative Assembly to create or abolish a Legislative Council by passing a resolution. The resolution has to be passed by two-thirds of the Assembly members.

There are only seven states which have two-tier of legislature – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir. Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. The tenure of a Member of the Legislative Council is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years. DMK in its election manifesto for recent state elections had promised to set up the council in the state. The rest one-sixth are nominated by the governor of the state. The legislative council has a chairman and deputy chairman who are elected by the members of the council and their roles are similar to that of a speaker and deputy speaker of an assembly.

For establishing or abolishing a legislative council in a state, parliament has to pass a bill after a resolution passed by the respective state’s assembly by at least two-third majority. At the Centre, it is Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and at state level Legislative assembly and legislative council. However, unlike at the Centre, the Upper House is not constitutional binding in the legislative structure at the state level. In the legislative council, One third of its members are elected every two years. The state legislative council is as same as the rajya sabha in the parliament.

During the Morley-Minto Reforms and Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms the concept of elections was introduced for the first time and the number of members in ILC increased pertinently. Thereafter, came the Government of India Act of 1935 and the present day bicameralism derives its root from here. It established a Federal Legislature which consisted of two houses – the federal assembly and the council of states. The council of states was a permanent body which could not be dissolved but one-third of its members retired every two years. This principle is still in existence for Rajya Sabha and legislative councils. Post-independence, the names were changed and the federal council came to be known as the Parliament with Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha as its houses and state legislatures were set up for every state.

Other States and UTs are Unicameral State Legislature with only a Lower house or Legislative assembly. State Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Delhi met for less than 10 days. This may in the long term erode public trust in the legislative institutions.