Nearly 100 Bihar IAS officers fail to declare assets

As many as 94 of 210 Bihar cadre IAS officers have failed to declare their assets, officials here said.

Forty-five percent of the IAS officers failed to declare details of their assets to the state government despite an official directive and now the government has warned them of action if these details are not submitted in 15 days, officials Wednesday said.

"Ninety-four of 210 Bihar cadre IAS officers have failed to declare their assets despite end of deadline," an official of the state's general administration department (GAD) said.

According to GAD officials, those Bihar cadre IAS officers who failed to declare their assets include two chief secretary rank officers and 17 district magistrates.

Two months ago, Bihar cadre Indian Administrative Service, police and forest service officers, the Bihar government and state public undertakings employees were asked to declare their movable and immovable assets by Feb 28.

The Bihar government has made it mandatory for all the IAS officers of the state cadre on central deputation to submit the details of their assets.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar set an example when he and his cabinet colleagues declared their assets Dec 31, 2010.

The details were posted on the state government's official website.

After that, Bihar became the first state in the country to make assets of government employees public by uploading the details on its website.

"It is a part of Nitish Kumar's initiatives to weed out corruption," an official in the Chief Minister's Office said.