CM, Ministers, MLAs and Bureaucrats to declare properties

     Raipur, March 09, 2010: Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh today said all his Ministers, party MLAs and All India Service Officers of Chhattisgarh would declare their properties from this year onward.

     Replying to a question of the senior Congress member Dharamjeet Singh, the Chief Minister said his party had decided to place the annual property return of all the Ministers and party MLAs before the Speaker during the budget session.

     Similarly the annual return of the IAS, IPS and IFS and other heads of Departments would be placed on the website from April 30, 2010.

     Singh said his government was committed to transparency and believe that the property should be in public domain of the people working in the public field.

    Responding to the announcement, Leader of Opposition Ravindra Choubey said his Congress party MLAs would also table their annual property return on the state assembly.

     Speaker Dharam Lal Kaushik, expressing his pleasure over the announcement, said Chhattisgarh Assembly had set several precedents in the past and the current announcement of the Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition would help in strengthening parliamentary democracy.