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Data crunching by this newspaper shows state legislative assemblies averaged just 30 sittings a year over the past decade. Anecdotally familiar, this devaluation of legislative democracy is still shocking when framed by data. All the more so because many states where electoral politics is high-tempo manage considerably fewer sittings than the already appalling national average. Among them are Punjab, Haryana and Delhi assemblies that meet less than 20 days a year, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and mighty-important UP, less than 25. Punjab and UP are witnessing fierce poll battles and government and opposition will equally ignore assembly duties post-poll. Not that, as data shows, Lok Sabha is an exemplar of legislative seriousness its yearly average is just 63 sittings, much poorer than national chambers of democracies like US, UK, Japan, Canada and Germany.

Put simply, this is unconscionable. So few sittings of MLAs, and indeed MPs, mean legislators are not spending enough time either debating laws or debating governance issues. Note that Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had some time back highlighted how poorly drafted many of our laws are, and how they frequently lead to controversies over interpretation and a raft of litigation. Thats a direct result of legislators not doing their job on legislations. The other outcome is that the executive, whether at state levels or at the Centre, feels increasingly unconstrained by the legislature. Only 13% of bills in the current, 17th Lok Sabha have been referred to standing committees, down from 27% in the previous one, and sharply down from over 60% during the 15th Lok Sabha. It is no accident that higher courts are the institutions that act as the only effective checks on executive overreach.

Therefore, peoples Houses in the worlds largest democracy need a rule a minimum of 100 sittings a year, and a majority of MLAs or MPs from every party in a House present in those sittings. Since culpability on this is cross-party, senior leadership of all major parties should agree at least on this one thing if they are as committed to Indias democratic system as they all say they are. Many senior leaders, across parties, increasingly see governance as almost solely an exercise in executive power, and Houses as at most venues for political theatrics. If legislatures continue to remain as unimportant in governance as they are now, the decline in the quality of democracy, which is different from just winning elections, may become irreversible. Thats a truly troubling thought.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

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House that? Shockingly low legislature sittings cant go on. Leaders must understand the quality of democrac - The Times of India Blog