adr-99-of-ministers-are-crorepatis-107-cr-avg

Seventy out of 71 ministers in the new council of ministers, or 99 per cent, are crorepatis with average assets amounting to ₹107.94 crores, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

 

The financial overview of the ministers provides a revealing insight into the wealth concentration within the country's political leadership.

 

Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development and the Ministry of Communications, tops the list with a staggering asset declaration of ₹5705.47 crores.

 

His assets include ₹5598.65 crores in movable assets and ₹106.82 crores in immovable assets.

 

Minister of Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, has declared total assets worth ₹424.75 crores.

 

His portfolio comprises ₹62.57 crores in movable assets and ₹362.17 crores in immovable assets.

 

Minister of Heavy Industries and Minister of Steel, H D Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal (Secular), has total assets valued at ₹217.23 crores.

 

His assets include ₹102.24 crores in movable assets and ₹115 crores in immovable assets.

 

Minister of Railways, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has declared assets totaling ₹144.12 crores, which include ₹142.40 crores in movable assets and ₹1.72 crores in immovable assets.

 

Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Planning, and Ministry of Culture, has total assets amounting to ₹121.54 crores.

 

His assets comprise ₹39.31 crores in movable assets and ₹82.23 crores in immovable assets.

 

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, another BJP minister from Mumbai North in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth ₹110.95 crores. This includes ₹89.87 crores in movable assets and ₹21.09 crores in immovable assets.

 

The ADR report highlights a significant concentration of wealth among India's political leaders.

 

Among the new ministers, six stand out for their particularly high asset declarations, each exceeding ₹100 crores. This includes Pemmasani, Scindia, Kumaraswamy, Vaishnaw, Singh, and Goyal.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his 71 ministers, took oath on Sunday as the new coalition government was formed after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own.

 

The detailed financial disclosures of these ministers come at a time when public scrutiny of political leaders' wealth and transparency in governance is heightened.