A new report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says that all the six ministers who have been sworn in as members of the Manipur cabinet, including Chief Minister N Biren Singh, are millionaires, though none of them have criminal cases against them.
Manipur Election Watch and ADR have analyzed the affidavits of six ministers.
There is only one female member in the cabinet.
“All six of them have not filed criminal cases against themselves,” the report said.
The average assets of the six are worth Tk 4.04 crore.
The report added, “The highest declared Minister of Total Resources is Kanthaujam Gobindas Singh from Bishenpur constituency, with assets amounting to Rs 8.32 crore.”
CM Singh, from Heingang constituency, is the Minister of Minimum Declared Total Wealth of Rs 1.47 crore.
On Monday, Singh was sworn in as Manipur’s chief minister for a second consecutive term. Biswajit Singh, one of the top contenders for the top post, has also been sworn in as a cabinet member. Others who have been sworn in are Khemchand Singh, Govindadas Kanthaujam, Nemcha Kipgen and Angbo Newmai. Only Angbo Newmai from Naga People’s Front (NPF) and the rest from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Further, all the ministers have declared liability. Khemchand Singh, a member of the constituency in Singjamei, tops the list with a liability of Rs 59 lakh.
One of the ministers, Khemchand Singh, MLA of Singjamei in Imphal West, studied up to 10th class. Four (67%) graduates or above, while Nemcha Kipgen, a MLA from Mangpokpi, is a diploma holder.
According to the report, all the ministers have declared their age to be between 45 and 65 years.
In the 60-member assembly, the BJP won 32 seats, while the Congress won five. Seven candidates from the National People’s Party (NPP) and six from the Janata Dal (United) won. Three candidates are independents, two from the Cookie People’s Alliance and five from the NPF.
Of the 60 winning candidates, 14 (23%) declared criminal cases in their self-sworn affidavits, of which 11 (18%) are facing serious criminal cases. In 2017, two legislators declared criminal cases and there are serious allegations against both.
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