With due later this year, the curtains came down on Karnatakas 15th legislative assembly on Friday, with speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri revealing that the assembly had passed 200 bills in 167 days of sittings over five years from May 2018. This takes the number of bills passed to more than one per day on Average, although most were passed amid a din or without a debate. Yet, Kageri said Karnataka fared among the best in the country in terms of transitioning house business and passing legislations.
The lower house passed 61 bills in 2020 and 48 bills in 2021, the highest in these two years by any legislature in the country. The performance of theKarnataka legislative assemblyis regarded as the best in the country, Kageri said in his farewell address. This was possible because of the cooperation from members on both sides. However, while quantity has been substantive, quality remains debatable. For instance, 15 bills were passed in the 11-day budget session the last of this legislature even though attendance was extremely low. Even opposition leader Siddaramaiah attended the session for only three days. Among the bills passed were the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill, 2022 that envages job reservation for Kannadigas even in the private sector besides Money bills. In all, the house received 1,382 questions, of which 135 were answered in the house and 134 by the government. Of the 1,240 unstarred questions, 979 were answered.