Crorepati ministers: Tamil Nadu has 24, Kerala has five

 

"Out of 29 ministers, 24 are crorepatis. The average assets of these ministers are ₹8.55 crore," the study released today by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) showed.

 

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has the highest declared total assets worth ₹113.73 crore, followed by Veeramani KC (₹27.67 crore) and Benjamin P (₹23.02 crore) all from AIADMK, it said.

 

"The minister with the lowest declared total assets is Udhayakumar RB of AIADMK with assets worth ₹31.75 lakh," the study said.

 

A total of 22 ministers have declared liabilities, with Vijaya Baskar C having the highest liability of ₹9.91 crore. "Eight out of the 29 ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves. Out of the eight ministers who have declared criminal cases, four have declared serious criminal cases," ADR said.

 

With regard to ministers education qualification, a total of 17 ministers are graduates or have higher degrees, while 12 have education qualification of 12th pass or below.

 

A total of two ministers have declared their age between 25 to 40 years, 17 have declared their age to be between 41 and 60 years and 10 declared their age to be between 61 and 70 years.

 

A detailed analysis the self-sworn affidavits of 29 ministers by Tamil Nadu Election Watch and ADR showed that there are only four women ministers.

 

In a separate press release, ADR which analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all 19 ministers along with Kerala Election Watch, showed that five ministers are crorepatis.

 

"The average assets of 19 ministers are ₹78.72 lakh and the minister with the highest declared total assets is AK Balan of CPI (M) with assets worth ₹2.36 crore," ADR said.

 

In terms of assets' value, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is at fifth position among the 19 ministers. Vijayan's total assets stood at ₹1.07 crore, while liability is ₹7.9 lakh, it said.

 

"Out of all 19 ministers analysed, 17 have declared criminal cases against themselves," it added.

 

Six ministers have declared their education qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 8 have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or graduate professional.

 

A total of two ministers have declared their age between 40 to 50 years and 15 have declared their age to be between 51 and 70. Out of 19 ministers, only two are women, ADR added.