Seventy two per cent of the newly sworn-in ministers in the 'Mahagathbandhan' government-led by Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have criminal cases against them, data showed.
According to a report issued by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Wednesday, out of the 33 new ministers, 23 have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Consequent to the reconstitution of the Bihar state cabinet on August 16, ADR and Bihar Election Watch have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 32 out of 33 ministers including Chief Minister from Bihar State Assembly 2020.
A nominated minister namely Ashok Chaudhary of JD(U) is not required to submit his affidavit, hence his information on criminal, financial and other details are not available in the public domain, the ADR said.
As per the report , 17 (53 per cent) ministers have serious criminal cases against themselves.
Out of the 23 ministers with criminal cases, 15 are from RJD, followed by JD (U) four, Congress two, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Independent one each.
Twenty seven (84 per cent) new ministers are crorepatis. Samir Kumar Mahaseth from Madhubani constituency has the highest assets worth Rs 24.45 crore, the ADR said.
Out of the new ministers, 8 (25 per cent) ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th and 12th standard while 24 (75 per cent) are graduate or above.
Three (9 per cent) ministers are women, the report said.