Almost 50% of ministers in India have criminal cases, ADR reveals, TDP leads
New Delhi: Nearly 47% of Ministers in India, including those in the Union Cabinet and State Cabinets have declared criminal cases against them. According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) 27% of ministers are facing serious charges of murder, kidnapping and crimes against women.
The non-profit analysed self-sworn affidavits of 643 Ministers from 27 State Assemblies, three Union Territories and the Union Council of Ministers, according to a report by The Hindu. Of them, 302 Ministers reported criminal cases, including 174 with serious charges.
Among political parties, the BJP has 336 Ministers, 136 of whom face criminal cases, including 88 with serious allegations. The Congress has 45 Ministers with criminal cases, 18 of them serious. In the DMK, 27 of 31 Ministers face criminal charges, while 14 are serious. The TMC has 13 of 40 Ministers with criminal records, eight of them serious.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) recorded the highest proportion, with 22 of its 23 Ministers facing criminal cases, including 13 with serious charges. In AAP, 11 of 16 Ministers have cases, with five serious.
Nationally, 29 of the 72 Union Ministers declared criminal cases. More than 60% of Ministers in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Puducherry face criminal charges, while Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand reported none.
The findings follows the Centre’s decision to introduced three Bills seeking to remove Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers and Ministers arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges carrying punishment of five years or more.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
