Telangana among fastest to pass budgets & bills: PRS data

HYDERABAD: Between 2017 and 2024, Telangana passed its annual budget within just two days on average, well below the national average of seven days, and significantly shorter than states like Kerala and Goa, which spent 18 days each on budget discussions.

According to the latest 2024 data from PRS Legislative Research, 28 states debated budgets for an average of seven days. The process typically involves two phases: a general discussion followed by ministry-wise expenditure reviews. Telangana, along with Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, was among six states that wrapped up budget approvals in just two days. In contrast, Odisha took 16 days, Gujarat 14, and Rajasthan 13.

When it comes to legislative output, states passed an average of 17 bills each in 2024. Notably, 51% of these were passed on the same day they were introduced - up from 44% in 2023. Karnataka led with 49 bills, followed by Tamil Nadu (45), and Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra (32 each).

Telangana passed 13 bills, with 20% cleared within a day and the rest within two to three days. Legislative sessions across states lasted an average of 100 hours.

Telangana clocked in at 149 hours, placing it just below the group of states like Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, which held sessions exceeding 150 hours. On the lower end, four states held sessions for under 50 hours.The data underscores how legislative work is increasingly compressed into fewer days. In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, 17 of its 32 bills were introduced on a single day - Sept 5, 2024 - and passed the very next day. Similarly, in 16 states, all bills were cleared within five days of being tabled. States such as Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal passed 100% of their bills either on the day of introduction or the day after. Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry, and Punjab repeated this swift pace for three consecutive years - 2022 through 2024. The findings raise key questions about the quality of deliberation in state assemblies.