'20 UP ministers, four from Uttarakhand face criminal cases'

The new Uttar Pradesh government has 20 ministers with criminal cases against them, Uttarakhand four, and Punjab two, a report said on Tuesday.

No Manipur minister has declared criminal case against him, according to a report released by the National Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report analysed the self-declared affidavits of newly elected ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

Among the charges faced by these are robbery, theft, forgery, and voluntarily causing harm.

As for assets, the ADR report said 35 UP ministers are millionaires. Uttarakhand eight, Punjab nine and Manipur six.

The average assets of 44 ministers in Uttar Pradesh total up at Rs 5.34 crore. The minister with the highest declared total assets is Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi from Allahabad South constituency with assets worth Rs 57.11 crore.

Chief Minister Adityanath has total assets worth over Rs 71 lakh, while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad holds total assets of over Rs 9 crore, the report said.

The report said seven (16 per cent) UP ministers declared their educational qualification between 10th and 12th Class pass, while 37 (84 per cent) are graduates or hold higher degrees.

The average assets of 10 ministers in Uttarakhand is Rs 11 crore. The minister with the highest declared total assets is Satpal Maharaj from Chaubattakhal with assets worth Rs 80.25 crore.

A total of nine (90 per cent) ministers are graduates or hold higher degrees, the report said.

The average assets of 10 Punjab ministers is Rs 34.54 crore. The minister with the highest declared total assets is Rana Gurjit Singh from Kapurthala with assets worth Rs. 169.89 crore.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has total assets worth over Rs 48 crore.

As per the report, a total of six (60 per cent) Punjab ministers are graduates or hold higher degrees, while four have qualification between 10th and 12th Class pass.

The average assets of nine ministers in Manipur is Rs 1.26 crore. The minister with the highest declared total assets is Yumnam Joykumar from Imphal West with assets worth Rs. 2.29 crore.

A total of seven (78 per cent) of these ministers are graduates or hold higher degrees, while two have qualification between 10th and 12th Class pass.

--IANS

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