New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has assets worth only Rs 46 lakh, which includes cows worth Rs 1.67 lakh. The details were revealed after Nitish instructed all Bihar ministers to make public their personal wealth
The richest member in the Bihar Cabinet is Human Resource Development Minister PK Shahi with assets worth Rs 4.5 crore.
A close second is Praveen Amanullah, wife of a senior IAS officer and daughter of former head of Babri Masjid Action Committee Syed Sahabuddin. Praveen is worth Rs 2.94 crore.
The poorest among the lot is BJP's JS Sigriwal with a cash reserve of just Rs 5,000 and total assets worth Rs 15 lakh.
Interestingly, Nitish's son Nishikant is richer than the Chief Minister himself. Nishikant has assets worth Rs 95 lakh while his father is worth Rs 46 lakh.
Nitish's assets also include a house in Sansad Vihar in New Delhi valued at Rs 40 lakh.
Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Modi is also richer than Nitish with assets worth Rs 1.5 crore.
Declaring the details of ministers' assets is just the beginning of what Nitish calls a "crackdown on corruption". Assets of all 30 Bihar ministers have been put up on the government website.
"All the ministers will give details of their assets by December 31. The details will be made public soon after all ministers declare their assets. This will be an annual exercise," Nitish had announced in Patna after his government was formed.
Next in the line are bureaucrats and Nitish wants all government servants including teachers, engineers and doctors to follow suit.
Also on the cards is a Right to Services bill, where essential services like electricity and water connections, issue of new ration cards and many others will have to be provided by the government in a time bound manner to its citizens.
But will all this actually curb corruption on the ground is the big question?
The real challenge before Nitish would be to ensure that these steps bring real relief to the people.
Comments
0 comment