New Delhi: Union ministers have been
submitting details of the assets owned by them and their
family members to the Prime Minister`s Office since 2006,
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said on Thursday.
"Every year we give these details," Soni told
reporters when asked to comment on reports of details of
assets declared by several ministers.
Ministers have been submitting such details with the
PMO since 2006, she said.
She said the Prime Minister had sent a letter to all
the ministers reminding them that the time had come to submit
a copy of their I-T returns and property details to his
office.
"I think this is good that before people point fingers
at us, we submit these details to the PMO," Soni said.
The union ministers have been asked to furnish the
details by August 31 in accordance with the Code of Conduct
for Ministers.
"I have been directed by the Prime Minister to apprise
you of the declarations required to be made by a member of the
Union Council of Ministers in accordance with the Code of
Conduct for Ministers...," Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar
had said in his June 2 letter to ministers.
The annual practice of the Prime Minister is a part of
his efforts to ensure probity and transparency of his cabinet
colleagues amid a rash of scams that have hit the government.
According to information for 2009-10 posted on the PMO
website, the Prime Minister has declared Rs 2.7 crore in fixed
deposits in State Bank of India, a house in Chandigarh,
estimated to be worth Rs 90 lakh and a flat in Vasant Kunj,
Delhi, worth Rs 88 lakh.
PTI
