Source: 
Wion
https://www.wionews.com/india-news/old-criminal-richkarnatakas-new-cabinet-full-of-millionaire-lawbreakers-reveals-report-597847
Author: 
Date: 
29.05.2023
City: 
New Delhi

A recent report has revealed that a staggering 75 per cent of the ministers in the newly appointed cabinet in India's Karnataka have unresolved criminal cases pending against them and that a whopping 97 per cent of them are as rich as Richie Rich

You must've heard the song 'Young, Dumb & Broke'. Let us introduce you to its remix version ' Old, Criminal & Rich'. A recent report has revealed that a staggering 75 per cent of the ministers in the newly appointed cabinet in India's southern state of Karnataka have unresolved criminal cases pending against them and that a whopping 97 per cent of them are as rich as Richie Rich. The news comes after the Indian National Congress won the election in a landslide earlier this month.

In its analysis of the self-sworn affidavits of 32 of the 34 ministers including the chief minister, the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) found that 24 of the ministers have pending criminal cases against them out of which 22 per cent, or seven, have serious criminal cases.

The charges these ministers face, among various others, include offences such as participating in riots, wielding dangerous weapons, engaging in criminal intimidation, tampering with or destroying documents or electronic records to obstruct their use as evidence, and endangering the lives or safety of others.

Millionaires all around

A thorough examination of the minister's self-declared assets and liabilities revealed that an overwhelming majority (97 per cent) of them are millionaires. The average assets of the 32 ministers analysed are 1.19 billion rupees or USD 14.4 million.

The deputy chief minister of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, holds the highest declared assets, valued at INR 14.13 billion or around USD 171 million.

In comparison, on the other end of the spectrum, with the lowest declared assets is Timmapur Ramappa Balappa from the Mudhol (SC) constituency who by his own declaration possesses assets amounting to INR 5.8 million or around USD 70,880.

Educational qualifications 

The report also went through the millionaire ministers' educational qualifications. Six ministers, or about 19 per cent of the newly appointed cabinet, don't even have an undergraduate degree and have stated their educational qualification as being between 8th and 12th grade.

24 ministers, or 75 per cent, said they possess a graduate degree or higher. Additionally, two ministers declared that they are diploma holders.

An inclusive cabinet?

Interestingly, the new cabinet consists of only one woman, Laxmi R. Hebbalkar from the Belgaum constituency. She has declared assets worth over INR 130 million or USD 1.57 million and liabilities exceeding INR 50 million or USD 70,000, according to the ADR report.

Unsurprisingly, if we talk of age distribution, almost half (44 per cent) or 14 ministers of the Karnataka cabinet are aged between 61 and 80. The remaining 18 ministers, or 56 per cent, fall between the ages of 41 and 60.

In India, where about 65 per cent of the population is young, aged 35 or less, the mean age of Lok Sabha MPs for the last 20 years as per India Today's Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) has remained above 50.

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