)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared moveable and immovable properties worth Rs 1.26 crore on the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) website, Rs 39 lakh less than the Rs 1.65 crore he had mentioned in his election affidavit. Whereas Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda added assets worth more than Rs 10 crore to his account in the past five months.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit organisation, has found this after comparing data from Union ministers' election affidavits with declarations to the PMO. After the formation of the National Democratic Alliance government in May, the home ministry had asked ministers and officials to disclose details of their assets and business interests to the PMO by August 31.
"In the Lok Sabha affidavit, Modi had declared Rs 58.5 lakh in bank deposits, while his bank deposits are Rs 18.3 lakh in the PMO declaration," ADR said. Modi has donated Rs 21 lakh for the education of daughters of peons and drivers working with the Gujarat government. The donation was made before he took oath in New Delhi. (WORTH OF MINISTERS)
Besides Modi, other ministers have declared lower net worth. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had Rs 2.82 crore worth of assets before the elections, but he declared Rs 1.54 crore to the PMO. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State V K Singh were among ministers who reported decline in assets of more than Rs 50 lakh.
"The cause of changes in assets for many ministers is due to the lack of any standardised format for declarations. Many ministers have not given the value for many assets declared," ADR said. "Some ministers have not given the market value of the assets," it added.
Among ministers who declared an increase of assets, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda put up the highest increase at Rs 10.46 crore. He had declared moveable and immoveable properties worth Rs 9.98 crore in his Lok Sabha election affidavit but disclosed assets worth Rs 20.35 crore on the PMO's website.
Radhakrishnan P, minister of state for public enterprises, trails Gowda with assets climbing from Rs 4.09 crore to Rs 7.07 crore. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's assets increased by Rs 1.01 crore.
Among ministers who are members of the Rajya Sabha, Power Minister Piyush Goyal disclosed the highest increase of 212 per cent.
