As a lot of heat and dust is being raised on the Planning Commission's affidavit to the Supreme Court on determining the new poverty line based on a day's earning of Rs 32 by person, the parameters of poverty seems to have lost any meaning for country's policy planners as the average income of a minister in the Manmohan Singh government increased by Rs 3.3 crore during the last two years.
“The average asset value of a minister in the current ministry is Rs 10.63 crore. In 2009, the average asset value of a minister was Rs 7.3 crore. Thus the current ministers on an average are Rs 3.3 crore richer than in 2009,” says NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in its detailed analysis of ministers’ assets made public recently.
ADR, which has been keeping a constant watch on the behaviour of country’s law makers after the Supreme Court had made declaration of their assets and criminal antecedent mandatory in 2002, got the analysis done by their activists Anil Bairwal, professor Jagdeep Chhokar and professor Trilochan Sastry after the PMO had made public the details of the wealth of 59 ministers.
There is every likelihood of further change in the figure of Rs 3.3 crore average increase in the asset value of the UPA ministers as 19 of them have not yet made public the details of their wealth, the ADR says.
Of the 59 ministers who declared their assets, DMK leader S. Jagathrakshakan’s wealth witnessed a phenomenal increased of Rs 64.4 crore during the last two years.
He had declared his assets worth Rs 5.9 crore during 2009 elections but a statement sent by him to the PMO now showed his wealth worth Rs 70 crore, according to the NGO.
However, 'poverty' has stuck some ministers with 15 of them registering a marginal decrease in the net value of their assets as compared to declarations made during 2009 elections.