Chhattisgarh chief minister, legislators to declare assets

Raipur, (IANS) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh Tuesday announced that he and his ministerial colleagues as well as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators will declare their assets annually in the state assembly.

"The property details of all the ministers, including the chief minister and the legislators of the ruling party, would be tabled in the legislative assembly every year," Raman Singh said.

"The move is aimed at maintaining transparency at every level in the government," Raman Singh, who is heading the BJP government in the mineral-rich state since Dec 2003, said.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Ravindra Choubey also announced in the assembly: "Members of the main opposition Congress will also submit details of their moveable and immovable property in the house."

In the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly, the BJP has 49 members while the Congress has 39 and the remaining two members belong to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

In response to a question by Congress member Dhramjeet Singh, Raman Singh said that property details of officers of government departments would be made available on the official websites from April 2010.

The issue of corruption at higher level in the Chhattisgarh government had hit headlines last month when IT sleuths raided 1988 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer B.L. Agrawal's residence and other locations here and revealed that the bureaucrat owned properties worth Rs.93 crore.

The Raman Singh government finally suspended him and state's Economic Offences Wing has registered a case against Agrawal.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is heading the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, had declared his property details in the state assembly last month.