Property Details: Will MP's State Ministers Follow Their Central Counterparts?

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The union ministers declared their properties through the PMO website on Wednesday. The central ministers are required to give the details of their properties every year, but there are no such rules for the state ministers.

The ministers in the state do not willingly give the details of their properties. But in 2011, the government declared in the assembly that the ministers would give the details of their properties during the budget session every year.

A few ministers submitted the details of their properties for three years. But they have stopped giving the details of their properties since 2013. After 2013, only two ministers, Jayant Malaiya and Gourshankar Bisen, submitted the details of their properties in the House for once.

None of the ministers gave the details of their properties afterwards. The Congress government pledged to submit the details of properties owned by the legislators in the assembly.

Providing the details of properties by the legislators is voluntary and not compulsory. This is the reason that there are no strict rules in the assembly for submitting the details of properties by the legislators.

An Minister, requesting anonymity, said he had to submit the details of his properties when he filed nomination papers for the assembly election. There are laws that the candidates filing nomination papers for assembly election after every five years must give their property details.

Apart from this, there is no rule for the ministers of the state to give their property details. After the union ministers submit the details of their properties, the Central Government makes it public.

Once such details are available, it becomes clear how many properties of a minister have increased. On the other hand, such details in the state come to light only during the assembly election.

If a political party denies a ticket to a minister, it is not known how many properties he has made during his tenure as a minister.