Outgoing Bihar assembly met for 146 days, lowest of all its five-year terms: Report

The outgoing Bihar legislative assembly met for a total of 146 days, the lowest of all its five-year terms, a legislative think-tank has said.

The outgoing 17th assembly met for an average of 29 days a year and on the days the House met, it functioned for an average of three hours. In 2024, assemblies across all states met for an average of five hours on sitting days, an analysis by PRS Legislative said.

Bihar will go to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14.

According to the analysis, the 17th assembly passed 78 Bills and all the laws were passed on the day of their introduction. None of the Bills were referred to any committee for further deliberation.

Of the Bills passed during this term, the majority were related to education, finance and taxation, and administration.

Some of these Bills included the Bihar Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, the Bihar Control of Crimes Bill, 2024, and the Platform Based Gig Workers (Registration, Safety and Welfare) Bill, 2025.

In 2023, the assembly passed two Bills to increase reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. These were, however, struck down by the Patna High Court in June 2024.

Other than general discussions on the annual budget, the legislators also discussed expenditures of the major ministries during the term.

In the five years since 2020, the assembly discussed the ministry expenditures for an average of nine days, it said.