Kerala Assembly sets a record of sorts

Thiruvananthapuram: The outgoing Kerala Assembly has failed to take up discussions not only on the Budget for the coming year but also on many important legislation. In fact, these are a record of sorts for the 13^th Assembly.

The number of Bills passed without discussions have increased from 14 during the tenure of the 11^th Legislative Assembly (2001-2006) to 21 during the tenure of the 12^th Legislative Assembly (2006-2011), and now it stands at a record 31 for the 13^th Assembly. The Bills that were passed without discussion included the Right to Services Bill and the Kerala Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill pertaining to the Budget for 2016-17.

Discussions on the Bills could not be taken up often because of disruption of proceedings by the Opposition. The 13^th Assembly had 237 sittings over its term of five years. The Opposition staged walkouts and boycotts during 180 of these sittings and proceedings had to be curtailed on 87 days. During the last session, the only business that could be taken up without disruptions was obituary reference to former Speaker A. C. Jose and poet O. N. V. Kurup.

The previous Assembly (12^th) had met for a total of 253 days and seen 153 walkouts and boycotts. The proceedings were disrupted on 38 days.

The all India presiding officers’ conference has more than once stressed that legislatures (except those of small States) should meet at least for 90 days. 100 days was considered ideal. However, this year, it lowered the target to a more realistic 60 days (30 for smaller States).

The total number of sittings had touched 257 during the previous UDF rule (2001-2006). But, the figure dropped to 253 during the LDF rule that followed. This time, several days of sessions had been cut short and the count of 13^th Assembly could not go beyond 237. In 2013, it had met only for 37 days. (The fourth Assembly, which had the longest tenure on account of emergency, also had the record regarding sittings. The eighth Assembly had 312 sittings over four years. Click here for details).

In fact, the Assembly had seen Budget presentation being disrupted and turned into a pandemonium last year. This year, no meaningful discussion took place either on the motion of thanks to the Governor for his address or the Budget including the vote on account. The motion of thanks was introduced by K. Muraleedharan on one day. He could not speak. Next day, he initiated the discussion but further discussion was curtailed. The general discussion on the Budget was hardly initiated by the Deputy Speaker as is customary and concluded with a ‘reply’ the debate that had not taken place by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.

Advocate D. B. Binu, who has undertaken some studies on the issue, said that it was imperative that the House found time and will to take up legislative business which as the main responsibility of the House. The Assembly was spending about Rs. 1600 for every minute it was meeting and its annual Budget was Rs. 95 crore.