Property lists of Odisha ministers questioned by Transparency International India

BHUBANESWAR: Transparency International India has questioned Naveen Patnaik government's claims of total transparency in the administration by making public the properties of its ministers, including the chief minister.

“There are several discrepancies and inadequacies in the statements as the norms prescribed by the Government of India have been violated. Not a single disclosure has been made of ministers’ assets and liabilities for the previous financial year.

It is meaningless to limit the disclosures to 2010-11 only, since there is no way to compare the increase in assets unless we have the previous year figures,” said Biswajit Mohanty, Board Member, Transparency International India.

Incidentally, while chief minister Naveen Patnaik has been found to be the richest among the 21 ministers with movable and immovable property worth Rs 119,948,769, urban development minister Sarda Prasad Nayak’s properties were worth Rs 12.18 lakh only.

Of the 21 Odisha ministers, 13 were found to have properties above Rs 1 crore. Mohanty points out that most ministers have ignored several key parameters like source of funds for various movable and immovable assets they and their family members hold.

Some ministers have under valued their assets. At least one minister has failed to give details of other financial assets/ interest of nearly . 80.23 lakhs held by him and his wife, Mohanty pointed out.