State Assemblies met on average 20 days in 2024; Odisha, Kerala, WB, K’taka lead in sittings: Report
New Delhi: State Assemblies across India convened for an average of just 20 days and spent 100 hours in sessions in 2024, according to a report by PRS Legislative Research.
The report, as cited by Deccan Herald on Friday, highlighted that some states had significantly more sittings than others. Odisha led the list with 42 sittings, followed by Kerala with 37 and West Bengal with 36 sittings. Karnataka, which has a target of 60 compulsory sittings per year, managed 29 sittings in 2024.
In contrast, Uttar Pradesh, despite having a mandate of 90 sittings a year, and Madhya Pradesh only held 16 sittings each. Manipur saw 14 sittings, while Jammu and Kashmir had the least at five sittings.
The Constitution requires legislatures to meet at least once every six months, eleven states met this obligation through short sessions lasting only one or two days. The report noted that state assemblies have met for fewer than 30 days annually since 2017, with 2020 seeing a drastic dip to just 16 sittings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number has since remained close to 20 days each year.
The years 2021 and 2022 saw 21 sittings each while 2023 saw 22 sittings and last year witnessed a slump to 20, added the report.
In 2024, assemblies averaged 100 hours of sitting time, with Kerala topping the list at 228 hours, followed by Odisha with 193 hours. Other states with notable sitting hours included Maharashtra and Rajasthan (187 hours each), Goa (172 hours), Chhattisgarh (155 hours), and Telangana (149 hours). Karnataka’s Assembly had 145 hours of sittings.
Regarding legislative activity, 2024 saw a total of over 500 bills passed across the country. Karnataka led in bill passage with 49 bills, followed by Tamil Nadu (45), Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra (32 each). However, some states had minimal legislative activity, with Delhi passing just one bill and Rajasthan passing only two.
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Bengaluru: Four arrested in prostitution racket; four women rescued
Bengaluru (PTI): Four people, among them two women, were arrested for running a prostitution racket from rented houses in parts of the city, police said on Monday.
With their arrest, police also rescued four women who were allegedly forced into prostitution, they said.
The arrests were made following tip-offs received by the Central Crime Branch’s Women Protection Unit on different dates, indicating that prostitution activities were being carried out in rented houses located in Padmanabhanagar, RK Layout, Sundarnagar, and NGF Layout, police said.
Based on information provided by informants, raids were conducted at these locations on different dates, they said.
“During the operations, four women involved in prostitution were rescued. In connection with the case, a total of four individuals, among them two women who were allegedly forcing others into prostitution, were taken into custody,” a statement issued by the office of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said.
Upon interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed that they contacted men seeking prostitution services over the phone and arranged for them to visit rented houses, where illegal activities were carried out for monetary gain, it said.
Cases have been registered against the accused at Subramanyapura, Jalahalli, and Jnanabharathi police stations, and further investigation is in progress, police added.
