New Delhi, A report by the non-governmental organization ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) and ‘Kerala Election Watch’, which works for electoral reforms, states that among the 20 ministers in the state whose affidavits were analyzed, criminal cases are registered against 18. According to the report, 15 of these 20 ministers are crorepatis.
This analysis is based on the election affidavits of 20 out of 21 ministers, including Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, who took oath on Monday after the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) returned to power in Kerala after a gap of 10 years. ADR said that the affidavit of Minister C.P. John was not analyzed because the document uploaded on the Election Commission website was not clear at the time of preparing the report.
The report states that 18 out of the analyzed ministers, i.e., 90 percent, have reported criminal cases against them. Among these, 14, i.e., 70 percent, are facing serious criminal cases. In terms of assets, the report says that 15 out of the 20 analyzed ministers, i.e., 75 percent, are crorepatis. The average assets of these 20 ministers amount to Rs 6.32 crore.
85% of ministers are graduates or higher educated
According to the report, Chavara MLA Shibu Baby John has declared the highest assets of Rs 24.63 crore, while Kodungallur MLA O.J. Janish has declared the lowest assets of Rs 57.08 lakh. The report also analyzes the educational qualifications and age details of the ministers.
The report found that three ministers (i.e., 15 percent) have educational qualifications between 10th and 12th grade, while 17 ministers (i.e., 85 percent) have educational qualifications of graduation or above. In terms of age, six ministers (i.e., 30 percent) are in the 31-50 age group, while 14 ministers (i.e., 70 percent) have reported their age between 51 and 80 years. According to the report, only two of the 21 members of the cabinet are women, which is about 10 percent.
