State legislatures shape the destiny of people; they must act like it

They handle Budgets and laws, but their dismal sitting days shows a lack of debate & scrutiny

Parliament’s work is the focus of national attention. The Union Budget gets wall-to-wall coverage, and laws passed by our national legislature are scrutinised intensely. The pageantry associated with Parliament and its proximity to the national media have crowded out developments in state legislative institutions.

 

But it is in the states, where the rubber meets the road — or if you prefer, the avocado meets the toast. States together spend about 1.5 times as much as the Union government, and their combined debt accounts for 27.5 per cent of the national gross domestic product. State legislatures also pass laws on subjects such as law and order, education, health, agriculture and local governance.

 

Each of the 28 states and three Union Territories has a state legislature. These are islands of democracy that make laws and pass Budgets for people and businesses in a state. For example, it was the states that took the lead in bringing different government approvals for businesses under a 7single-window mechanism and banning online gaming.

 

The Andhra Pradesh Industrial Policy of 2002-05 specified that single-window registration for clearances would be made compulsory by law. This mandate took the form of an ordinance, then a law passed by the legislature in 2002. It established district- and state-level coordination mechanisms to expedite government approvals for establishing industries in the state. The law set timelines for government departments to issue approvals, and if they were not met, it would result in automatic deemed approval. It also introduced the idea that businesses could self-certify compliance with certain government requirements.

 

Over the next two decades, many states followed in Andhra Pradesh’s footsteps. And in 2020, the central government announced the establishment of the Investment Clearance Cell (now NSWS) to provide “end-to-end” facilitation and support to investors. Tamil Nadu took the lead in banning online gaming, first passing amendments in 2021 and then a comprehensive law in 2022. Parliament then prohibited online gaming by passing a law in 2025.

 

States are also competing with one another to attract investment and industry. In 2015, while chairing the first governing council meeting of NITI Aayog, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he envisions different states competing to promote governance initiatives, in a spirit of “cooperative, competitive federalism”. The implementation of goods and services tax is cited as an example of cooperative federalism and the rise of state investment summits as that of competitive federalism.

 

States tweak central laws to create a legal and regulatory climate friendlier than that of their neighbours. In 2025, nine states (including Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Rajasthan and Tripura) increased factory working hours to 10-12 hours per day (within the cap of 48 hours per week). Several states and Union Territories (such as Bihar, Goa, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir) also amended their laws to allow women to work night shifts, subject to their consent and safety.

 

This shift in the statutory environment can sometimes be due to Parliament’s inability to pass a law. For example, in 2015, the government brought in a Bill to amend the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. The idea was to relax the requirements governing land acquisition for strategic and developmental activities. The Bill faced stiff opposition in Parliament. The central government then urged state governments that wanted to develop fast to pilot their own land acquisition Bills on the lines of its proposal.

 

The laws and Budgets passed by state legislatures directly impact business and society, and therefore, their workings require careful examination. For example, in 2021, the Andhra Pradesh legislature passed a law granting the state government a monopoly on setting up an online movie ticketing portal (a law later struck down by the courts). In 2023, the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha passed a law to provide social security for gig workers, and last year, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Karnataka passed similar laws.

 

An examination of budgets from states across the country shows that in 2023-24, states collectively spent 62 per cent of their revenue receipts on interest payments, salaries, pensions and subsidies. In 2025-26, 12 states (up from nine) were providing unconditional cash transfers to women. Six of these states have a revenue deficit. It is estimated that the combined spending of the 12 states on these schemes will be Rs 1.68 trillion.

 

State legislatures do this critical work in a lackadaisical manner. Passing legislation and setting a state’s fiscal priorities requires careful consideration by Members of Legislative Assemblies. Data on the workings of state legislatures highlight that they have been breaking the constitutional trust reposed in them. In 2025, state legislatures met for an average of 24 days and passed 600 laws. The Constitution implies that legislatures should meet for at least 60 days in a year and provides that there should not be a gap of six months between two meetings of a legislature. Nationwide, state governments convened legislative meetings to comply with the letter of the Constitution but not its spirit, resulting in a dismal number of days available for deliberation.

 

More legislative days provide more time for detailed debate and scrutiny. A limited number of sitting days meant that a legislature passed a law on the same day that it was brought before it. Seven Assemblies — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab — passed all Bills either on the day of introduction or the very next day. On average, states took eight days to pass their Budgets. Tamil Nadu was an outlier, and its legislature spent 23 days discussing the Budget.

 

The seriousness with which state elections are contested must carry over after the votes are counted and state legislatures begin functioning. After all, the hope from our state legislatures is that they will work diligently for five years to shape the destiny of their people. 

 

 

The writer is head of legislative and civic engagement, PRS Legislative Research. The views expressed are personal