In terms of state with the highest percentage of ministers with serious criminal cases, Maharashtra tops the list with 13 (65%) out of 20 ministers, followed by seven (64%) out of 11 ministers from Jharkhand, and 10 (59%) out of 17 ministers from Telangana

Out of the 558 MLAs in current state assemblies, 486 (87%) are crorepatis whereas, 239 (43%) ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Tuesday.

“28 (85%) out of 33 ministers from Tamil Nadu, 7 (78%) out of 9 ministers from Himachal Pradesh, 13 (76%) out of 17 ministers from Telangana, 15 (75%) out of 20 ministers from Maharashtra, 11(73%) out of 15 ministers from Punjab, and 21 (70%) out of 30 ministers from Bihar have declared criminal cases against themselves in their self-sworn affidavits,” observed the ADR report.

In terms of state with the highest percentage of ministers with serious criminal cases, Maharashtra tops the list with 13 (65%) out of 20 ministers, followed by seven (64%) out of 11 ministers from Jharkhand, and 10 (59%) out of 17 ministers from Telangana.

According to the report, 15 (50%) out of 30 ministers from Bihar have declared serious criminal charges against themselves, whereas 16(48%) out of 33 ministers from Tamil Nadu and seven (47%) out of 15 ministers from Punjab have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.

A total of 558 ministers out of 567 were analysed across 28 state assemblies and two union territories. The reports are based on affidavits filed by the ministers before contesting their last elections.

The report analysed the ministers’ assets across state assemblies and pegged the average assets of ministers at ₹16.63 crore. Whereas, the average asset of ministers with declared criminal cases is ₹21.21 crore. Compared to this, the average assets of ministers with no criminal cases is ₹13.20 crores.

Karnataka leads with the highest average assets per minister, with 27 ministers owning average assets of ₹73.09 crore, followed by Maharashtra (20 ministers) with average assets of ₹47.45 crore and Chhattisgarh (13 ministers) with average assets of ₹43.96 crore.

On the other hand, Tripura has the lowest average assets of ministers, with average assets of ₹2.67 crores owned by 11 ministers, with a slightly higher figure owned by ministers in Kerala (18 ministers) with average assets of ₹2.73 crores and Manipur (12 ministers) with average assets of ₹3.69 crores.

The entire state council of ministers analysed from Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Puducherry, Telangana, and Uttarakhand are all crorepatis.

Meanwhile, of the total 558 ministers, the largest proportion of sitting ministers is in the 51-60 age group with 200 ministers (35.84%). The second largest proportion of ministers is in the 61-70 age group at 143 ministers (25.63%), followed by 139 ministers in the 41-50 age group (24.91%).

In terms of gender, only 51 (9%) ministers out of a total of 558 ministers are women. The highest number of women ministers are from West Bengal with eight (18%), followed by Odisha with five (23%) and Uttar Pradesh with five (10%).

“It is to be noted that there are no women ministers in Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Sikkim Assemblies,” the ADR report underlines.