Jaipur: As the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary on July 15, official records reveal a steady decline in the number of days the House has met over the years – despite the state’s population, budget and governance responsibilities expanding significantly over the decades.The second Assembly (1957–62) remains the busiest in the state’s history, holding 306 sittings across 11 sessions and transacting over 1,665 hours of business. By comparison, the Fifteenth Assembly (2018–23) met for only 147 sittings in eight sessions, completing just over 995 hours of business, a decline of nearly 52% in sittings and 40% in business hours over seven decades.The fall, though, has been gradual!The third Assembly held 268 sittings, the fourth 242 and the fifth 200. The eighth Assembly (1985-90) was an exception, recording 180 sittings and more than 1,531 hours of business. Since 1993, however, the Assembly has generally held not more than 10 or 11 sessions in a full five-year term, while the number of sitting days has remained between 119 and 147.The ongoing sixteenth Assembly has so far completed five sessions, 84 sittings and over 573 hours of business.A broader comparison puts the changing trend in perspective.The first four Assemblies averaged nearly 280 sittings in a five-year term, while the twelfth to fifteenth Assemblies averaged only 136. On an annual basis, the House met for around 60 days in its early decades, compared with fewer than 30 days in recent years.Interestingly, the average duration of each sitting has remained largely unchanged at six to seven hours, indicating that the decline in legislative work is primarily due to fewer sitting days rather than shorter proceedings.Six-term BJP MLA Pratap Singh Singhvi said both the treasury benches and the Opposition should be concerned of this trend.“When I entered politics, Assembly sessions generated enormous public interest. We waited for newspapers and radio bulletins the next day to follow debates. Today, public engagement has reduced despite live streaming. The House should meet for more days to discuss people’s issues,” he said.Congress MLA Dayaram Parmar, a seven-term legislator from Kherwara, said the onus for the decline in sittings lay with the govt.“The Assembly is the state’s highest democratic forum. More sittings would allow legislators to raise public issues and ensure better scrutiny of govt decisions,” he said.
