AP ministers in no hurry to declare assets

Members of the Union Council of Ministers may have scrupulously followed the Prime Minister's directive and promptly declared their assets but ministers in Andhra Pradesh seem to be not in a hurry.

More than a year after Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy asked his Cabinet colleagues to disclose their assets, not even half have complied, sources in the General Administration Department said. The Chief Minister's directive came on June 23, 2011, based on which the GAD issued a circular to all ministers asking them to disclose their assets by the end of August (last year). But the ministers clearly ignored the first deadline. On September 13, 2011, the chief minister gave two more weeks' time for his colleagues to declare their assets and said all details would be made available on the internet for public scrutiny. Some 10-12 ministers have submitted details of their assets in the last one year. Others are yet to do that, a senior official said. When the CM's first directive came, the Cabinet strength was 38. It has now risen to 40, including the chief minister, after the removal of one and induction of five new ministers early this year. Interestingly, the chief minister himself is yet to disclose his assets, the sources said.  Meanwhile, the response to Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar's call to legislators to submit details of their assets by mid-August has also been lukewarm. While launching the official portal of the state Legislature on July 28, the Speaker asked the legislators to furnish details of their assets and liabilities to the Legislature Secretariat within the next 15 days so that they could be uploaded on the website. As per Rule 364 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Andhra Pradesh Legislature, members are required to submit details of their assets and liabilities to the Assembly Speaker by July 31 every year. Members are required to submit these details at the time of their election. They have to furnish fresh details if there is any change in their assets and liabilities. If there is no change, they need not declare anything afresh and we will use the previous data, the Speaker had said. Many of the MLAs did submit the details but many are yet to do so. We will wait for some time, Legislature sources said. Now that the Union Ministers publicised details of their assets, it is hoped that ministers and legislators in AP will also follow suit.