Fadnavis sitting on ministers' assets details: RTI activist

Mumbai, March 25 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is yet to take a decision on making public his cabinet members' declarations of their assets and liabilities,117 days after his government took office, an RTI activist said here on Wednesday.

"Transparency and clean governance were the two prime agenda on which the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government was formed in the state. However, nearly four months after assuming office, the twin agenda is being flouted by Fadnavis himself," said RTI activist Anil Galgali.

According to Galgali, information on the cabinet members' assets-liabilities was sought under Right to Information Act from General Administration Department under-Secretary D.K. Naik, who declined to provide the details on grounds of "non-availability".

"Since the same practice is followed at the Centre by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also in Bihar, I again wrote to the state government demanding that the assets/liabilities details be posted online in public domain. Till date, there is no response from the government in the matter," Galgali told IANS.

Naik replied that Galgali's RTI query was lying with the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in Mantralaya and would be made available only after Fadnavis' decision in the matter.

Galgali said all the current 18 cabinet ministers and 12 ministers of state, including the chief minister, have to declare their assets-liabilities to Governor C.V. Rao.

"My letter on November 14, 2014, and a reminder on March 9, 2015, to Fadnavis is pending in CMO since November 27, 2014. This is clearly a violation of the Citizens Charter and Right to Service Act," Galgali said.

Interestingly, he pointed out how he had pursued the same issue with the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party regime headed by then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

"Only the names of the ministers came in the public domain, not details of assets-liabilities as Chavan was against making it public. The new BJP-SS government elected on the plank of transparency and clean governance seems to have continued the same policy," he said.