Friday, 24 October 2014

REPORT ON ANALYSIS OF ASSETS DECLARATIONS OF UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

​The declaration of assets by the Ministers has been made according to the Code of Conduct issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs
​ ​
which states that:
​ “...A person immediately after entering office as a minister, and in any case within a period of two months from the date of assumption of office, shall disclose to the Prime Minister, or the Chief Minister, as the case may be details of the assets and liabilities, and of business interests, of himself and of members of his family. The details to be disclosed shall consist of particulars of all immovable property and the total approximate value of (i) shares and debentures, (ii) cash holdings and (iii) jewellery. Such a Statement of assets and liabilities could be in respect of the financial year for which the income tax return has already been filed by the Minister…”
“…After taking office, and so long as he remains in office, the Minister shall:
a) Furnish annually by 31st August to the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister, as the case may be, a declaration regarding the details of assets and liabilities of himself and of members of his family for the previous financial year”.
Note:
  • For comparison of assets of Union Council of Ministers from Lok Sabha, we have considered their election affidavits from 2014 Lok Sabha Elections and compared it with their asset declarations on the PMO’s website as on 10th October, 2014
  • For comparison of assets of Union Council of Ministers from Rajya Sabha, who did not contest the Lok Sabha 2014 elections, we have considered their most recent Rajya Sabha Election affidavit, hence the date and year of the affidavit might vary.
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) disclosed the financial assets and liabilities of Ministers on its website,http://pmindia.gov.in/en/right-to-information-rti/assets-liabilities-of-the-union-council-of-ministers/. Association Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch (NEW) have analyzed the declarations all 45 Union Council of Ministers, including the Prime Minister and compared it with the assets declared by them in their last election affidavit/asset declaration. 

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM NEW & ADR

  1. ​There is no standard format for disclosure of assets under the Code of Conduct issued by the MHA. This has led to a discrepancy in the quality of disclosures by different Ministers. It is recommended that all asset declarations be made in a standard format similar to the affidavits submitted to the Election Commission of India during filing of nomination papers by candidates. ​

  2. It was observed that even though the Code of Conduct states clearly that the asset disclosures should also be accompanied by the business interests, none of the Ministers have declared any financial/pecuniary interest in their declarations. The format for declarations should make it mandatory for the Ministers to also disclose their business interests along with the asset details.
  3. The Code of Conduct should also make it mandatory for the Ministers to disclose their IT returns in public interest. This will further the spirit of transparency and accountability in the disclosures by the Ministers. 

SUMMARY AND HIGHLIGHTS

The declarations of 45 ministers were analysed out of which 37 ministers had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 8 Rajya Sabha ministers who had not contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.
  • 41 (91%) of the Ministers are crorepatis based on their declarations to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
  • The average assets of Ministers according to their declarations on the PMO website is Rs. 14.32 crores.

  • The highest assets have been declared by Shri Arun Jaitely (Rs. 114.03 crore) of BJP followed by Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD (Rs. 108.31 crores) and Shri Piyush Goyal of BJP (Rs. 94.66 crores).
  • The lowest assets have been declared by Shri Sudarshan Bhagat of BJP (Rs. 59.13 lakhs) followed by Shri Mansukhbhai Dhanjibhai Vasava of the BJP (Rs. 65.71 lakhs) and Shri Ramvilas Paswan of LJP (Rs. 95.71 lakhs).

Comparison of Assets for Ministers who contested the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014

  • Among the Ministers who contested Lok Sabha 2014 elections, the highest increase in assets in 5 months has been shown by Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda of the BJP (Cabinet Minister for Railways). His assets have shown an increase of Rs. 10.46 crores (from Rs. 9.88 crores as declared in Lok Sabha 2014 elections to Rs. 20.35 crores in the 2014 declarations of the Union Council of Ministers to the PMO). He is followed by Shri Radhakrishnan P of the BJP (Minister of State, Independent Charge, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises) who has shown an increase of Rs. 2.98 crores (from Rs. 4.09 crores in Lok Sabha 2014 to Rs. 7.07 crores in the disclosure to the PMO) and Shri Arun Jaitley of the BJP (Cabinet Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Defence) who showed an increase of Rs. 1.01 crores  (from Rs. 113.02 crores in Lok Sabha 2014 to Rs. 114.03 crores in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO).
  • 16 Ministers have shown a decrease in assets. The highest decrease has been shown by Smt. Sushma Swaraj of BJP (Cabinet Minister, External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs) who showed a decrease of Rs. 3.89 crores (from Rs. 17.55 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to Rs. 13.65 crores declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO). She is followed by Gen. V.K. Singh (Retd.) of BJP (Minister of State,Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge), External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs) who declared a decrease of Rs. 3.13 crores (from 4.11 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to Rs. 98.27 lakhs declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO) followed by Dr. Harsh Vardhan of  BJP (Cabinet Minister, Health and Family Welfare) who declared a decrease of Rs. 1.28 crores (from 2.82 crores declared in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections to Rs. 1.54 crores declared in the 2014 disclosure to the PMO).
ADR and NEW analyzed in depth, the declarations of Ministers who contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 with an increase or decrease in assets of more than Rs. 50 lakhs.
​
Upon analysis it was found that the cause of changes in assets for many Ministers is largely due to the lack of any standardized format for ministers’ asset declarations. Many Ministers 
​​
(as may be evidenced from the table given in the attached report) have not given the value for many assets declared. Not declaring the value of assets in the Ministers’ declaration is akin to not making a disclosure at all. Apart from that, some Ministers have not given the present market value of the immovable assets they have declared on the PMO website. The purpose of the Ministers’ declaration is to encourage financial transparency. That purpose is belied when the declarations are not made in the spirit of the instructions issued by the MHA. It is strongly recommended that the asset declarations should be made in a standard format, preferably in the format of the election affidavit.
​The analysis of asset declarations of Rajya Sabha Ministers who had not contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 is given the attached report. ​


Regards,
Media and Journalist Helpline

+91 80103 94248
Maj.Gen. Anil Verma (Retd.)

Head, National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
011 4165 4200,
+91 88264 79910
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar

IIM Ahmedabad (Retd.)
Founder Member,
National Election Watch, Association for Democratic
Reforms
+91 99996 20944

Prof Trilochan Sastry

IIM Bangalore
Founder Member,
National Election Watch,
Association for Democratic Reforms
+91 94483 53285



-- 
Association for Democratic Reforms
T-95A, C.L. House, 1st Floor,
(Near Gulmohar Commercial Complex)
Gautam Nagar
New Delhi-110 049

M: +91 8010394248 
T: +91 11 41654200
F: 011 4609 4248
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)