Changing profile of MLAs: Businessperson, graduate, postgraduate

Legislative Assemblies across India are ageing. More MLAs are identifying themselves as businesspersons, and their education levels are rising, too. Women representation, however, remains underwhelming, reports ARCHIS MOHAN

- ARCHIS MOHAN

More legislators now identify themselves as "businesspersons," an increase seen across industrialized and agrarian states alike. This shift is accompanied by rising educational attainment and aging assemblies, but progress on gender representation remains dismal.

In Jharkhand, the median age of members of legislative assembly (MLAs), according to data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, rose from 43 in 2009 to 53 in 2024 (the new Assembly). The share of businesspersons climbed from 26 percent in 2014 to 37 percent in 2024. Women's representation in the Assembly, though at its highest yet after the November polls, remains limited to 12 of the 81 seats. Among the newly elected MLAs, 37 percent identified as "businesspersons," up from 27 percent in 2019 and 26 percent in 2014. Legislators often report multiple professions, and 31 percent also identified as agriculturists, up from 26 percent in 2019.