Himachal Cabinet: 5 Ministers With Criminal Record, 8 MLAs Crorepati

Shimla: As many as five out of twelve ministers in the Himachal Pradesh cabinet headed by Jai Ram Thakur have criminal records, while eight MLAs are 'crorepati', says a report by the Himachal Pradesh Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms. An analysis of criminal records and assets of the state MLAs as per the affidavits filed them was conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report revealed that, on an average, asset of the state cabinet ministers is Rs 7.17 crore, with Anil Sharma topping the list with assets worth Rs 40.20 crore. He is followed by five-time MLA and former minister, Mohinder Singh (Rs 15.38 crore) and Krishan Kapoor (Rs 7.99 crore). Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has assets worth Rs 3.28 crore. Three state ministers with lowest assets include Bikram Singh from Jaswan-Pragpur (Rs 74 lakh), Rajiv Saizal from Kasauli (Rs 77 lakh) and Ram Lal Markanda from Lahaul and Spiti (Rs 87 lakh), it said. The total asset of Sarveen Chowdhary is Rs 4.19 crore, Varinder Kanwar Rs 3.38 crore, Vipan Singh Parmar Rs 1.44 crore and Suresh Bharadwaj is Rs 93.53 lakh. As far as the educational qualifications is concerned, three ministers are 12th pass, eight graduates while one minister has a doctorate. Two ministers are in the age group of 41 to 50 years; six in the age group of 61 to 70 years, while four are in age group of 61 to 70 years, the report said. There is only one woman minister in the cabinet, with the fair sex having a representation of 8.35 per cent in the BJP-led state government.