THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the first decisions that Oommen Chandy took after becoming Chief Minister was that ministers and higher officials would declare their assets and liabilities within 100 days. Speaker G Karthikeyan has become the first to do so. Karthikeyan published the assets and liabilities of the Legislature Secretariat staff on www.niyamasabha.org, its official website on August 9.The assets of 89 staff members of the Assembly, from private secretaries to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker to deputy librarians of the Assembly, are now available at the click of a mouse."A decision was taken and we should adhere to it. The Legislature Secretariat is independent, but we are also a part of the decision. Everything should be transparent,’’ the Speaker said.Speaker G Karthikeyan and Deputy Speaker N Shakthan had already declared their assets as part of the Assembly Election process.It was on June 2 that the Chief Minister, announcing the 100-day plans of his government, said that the assets and liabilities would be published.Transparency, the Chief Minister said, was to be the key-word of the UDF Government and the assets declaration was an integral part of it.The plan includes posting details of wealth and assets of ministers and their families, all-India service officers and department heads, personal staff of ministers, Advocate General and government law officers and their families.The 100-day plan also envisages stricter enforcement of registering assets and details of government servants on a yearly basis.
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