Prez declares assets worth Rs 2.49 cr
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil does not own a car but has a house and a farmhouse in her native place Amaravati in Maharashtra and her savings include investment in shares and bonds.
It is for the first time the President of India has declared his or her assets worth Rs 2.49 crore.
This is as per the declaration of assets by Patil after the Central Information Commission (CIC) advised her to declare assets on lines of similar declaration by those holding posts such as Supreme Court judges and election commissioners.
But, the CIC made it clear that it does not have powers to ask President to declare her assets, while saying that the Prime Minister has declared his assets voluntarily.
Patil was prompt to declare her assets but she did not declare assets of her family members as done by the Union Council of Ministers. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked his Cabinet colleagues to declare the assets of their entire family and possible conflict of interest.
The President has declared that she owns a house in 417 sq meters and a farmhouse in Amaravati, where she also has agriculture land. Her husband Devisingh Shekhawat hails from Amaravati. She also has additional agriculture lands in Jalgoan and Shindkhada districts of Maharastra worth Rs 25 lakh.
Among the immovable property, the President has invested in shares of PMS Bank and Pratap Co-op Bank, Sant Sugar Factory and Congress Nagar Housing Society, Amaravati.
She has also invested in bonds of the Central government's Rural Electrification Corporation and has fixed deposits worth Rs 68 lakh in different banks.
Patil does not own any vehicle and owns jewellery worth Rs 31 lakh.
With this, almost everyone in the highest level in the Central government has declared assets including senior bureaucrats and judges. But, it took almost six years after the Right To Information act was passed and that too, after a lot of resistance, especially from judiciary and bureaucrats.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Panipat man kills three within 8 hours; arrested
The accused, Ashu, a resident of Panipat’s Nara village, killed the victims, reportedly his friends, between 8pm and 4am and travelled around 60km from the first crime scene in Matlauda of Panipat to Titawi in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli. The victims are Sonu, 26, who was working with a private contractor in a cement factory, and his two friends -- Monu, 25, of Nara village and Rakesh, 27, of Bhalsi village.
-
Delhi: Tools to help schools assess mindset curriculum impact
The Delhi government introduced the Happiness curriculum in 2018, Entrepreneurship mindset curriculum in 2019 and the Deshbhakti curriculum last year with the aim of inculcating problem-solving approaches among students and making them more self-aware, self-confident and socially responsible.
-
Delhi LG inspects drainage at flooding hot spots
While the LG appreciated the work done at Indraprastha and Pul Prahladpur, he was displeased at the drainage system at Minto Bridge, flagging “technical flaws” in the drainage system and warned that engineers concerned “will be held responsible and strict action will be taken in the event of waterlogging at the site.”
-
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs return to Mumbai after 11 days, show of strength with BJP
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar said the MLAs were informed about the election process for upcoming election for Speaker’s post. “They were told that the election will be held through a voice vote or they may have to stand up to vote for their candidate if asked,” said Mungantiwar.
-
Dry day pushes Delhi’s temperature up; IMD forecasts light rain for today
The weather department classifies rainfall between ‘trace’ and 2.4 mm as ‘very light rainfall’, as ‘light rainfall’ when it is between 2.5 mm and 15.5 mm, as ‘moderate’ rainfall when it is between 15.6 mm and 64.4 mm and as ‘heavy’ when it is over 64.5 mm in a single day.
