Assam
Legislative Assembly
Assam,
under the provisions of Indian Councils Act, 1861, did not have its own
democratic institution but was tagged with East Bengal in 1905 and the
Institution was then called “Legislative Council of Eastern Bengal and
Assam”, which started functioning from 18 December 1906. In 1909, the
Council had a strength of 40 members with 5 seats allotted to Assam. In
1912, Assam was reconstituted into a Chief Commissioner’s Province. In the
year 1913, after Assam was granted a Legislative Council under the
Government of India Act, 1909, the Assam Legislative Council came into being
with a strength of 34 members, of which 13 were nominated by the Chief
Commissioner and 21 were elected by the people.
Under
the Government of India Act, 1919, the strength of the Legislative Council
was raised to 53 members with effect from 1 April 1921 of which 41 were
elected members and the remaining 12 were nominated.
The
Government of India Act, 1935 made provisions for a Legislative Assembly in
each Province and as a result the Legislature in Assam became bicameral in
1937. The Assam Legislative Assembly had the strength of 108 members and all
of them were elected members. The strength of the Legislative Council (Upper
House) was not less than 21 and not more than 22 members.
The
Legislature of Assam remained bicameral from 1937 to 1946. Under the India
(Provincial Legislatures) Order, 1947, the Legislative Council was abolished
on 14 August 1947. The Assam Legislature has been unicameral since then. In
the years that followed, Assam was truncated to several smaller States. With
the changing geographical boundaries together with the shifts in the
population graph of Assam, the strength of members of the Assam Legislative
Assembly has fluctuated over the years. In 1952-57 it was 108, reaching
still lower to 105 in 1957-62 (the Second Assembly) and then to 114 in
1967-72 (the Third Assembly) until it reached a strength of 126 members in
1972-78 (the Fifth Assembly). The present strength of the Assembly is 126.
The present House, the Eleventh Assam Legislative Assembly, commenced
its First Session on 30 May 2001.
There are 23 Committees in the Assembly.