Punjab Cabinet: Seven of 11 ministers face criminal cases, nine crorepatis
New Delhi(PTI): Seven of the 11 newly sworn-in ministers in Punjab have declared criminal cases against themselves, with four of them facing serious charges, poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms said on Monday.
The 11 ministers include Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
Punjab Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms analysed the affidavits of all 11 ministers, including the CM.
The ADR said seven ministers (64 per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves. Four of them (36 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
Of the 11 ministers, nine are crorepatis and the average of their assets is Rs 2.87 crore. The minister with the highest declared total assets is Bram Shanker (Jimpa) from Hoshiarpur. He has assets worth Rs. 8.56 crore.
Lal Chand from Bhoa (Sc) constituency has the lowest declared total assets worth Rs 6.19 lakh. Nine ministers have declared liabilities.
The minister with the highest liabilities is Bram Shanker, He has liabilities worth Rs 1.08 crore.
The ADR said five ministers (45 per cent) have declared their educational qualification to be between Class 10 and 12 while the rest are graduate or above.
Six ministers (55 per cent) have declared their age to be between 31 and 50 years while five (45 per cent) are aged 51 and 60, the ADR said.
Ten AAP MLAs were sworn in as Punjab ministers on Saturday.
They are Harpal Singh Cheema, Harbhajan Singh, Dr Vijay Singla, Lal Chand, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Laljit Singh Bhullar, Bram Shanker Jimpa, Harjot Singh Bains and Dr Baljit Kaur.
Earlier, Bhagwant Mann had taken oath at a programme in Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
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10-year-old boy stuck in borewell in MP's Guna, rescue operation on
Bhopal, Dec 28: A 10-year-old boy fell into an open borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district on Saturday evening and a rescue operation was underway, officials said.
The incident took place in Raghogarh area.
Sumit Meena, the boy, slipped into the open shaft of the borewell at Pipliya village, about 50 km from Guna district headquarters, about 5 pm.
He was trapped at a depth of around 39 feet, Raghogarh Congress MLA Jaivardhan Singh told PTI from the spot.
A parallel pit has been dug to rescue him, he said.
While police started the rescue operation immediately, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) had also arrived from Bhopal, the MLA said.
Oxygen was being pumped into the borewell, he said.
