An analysis of the affidavits of 43 of the 44 Ministers in the West Bengal government points out that 12% of them have declared criminal cases against them. The analysis was carried out by the West Bengal Election Watch and the Association for Democratic Reforms.
“Twelve (28%) Ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves. Seven (16%) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves,” the press statement issued by the organisations said.
The details of the affidavit of Minister of Finance Amit Mitra could not be analysed as he did not contest the Assembly elections.
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The analysis of the financial details pointed out that 32 Ministers (74%) are crorepatis. The Minister with the highest assets is Javed Ahmed Khan (₹32.33 crore). Mr. Khan, Minister for Disaster Management and Civil Defence, has liabilities worth ₹41.51 crore. And the Minister with the lowest declared assets is Birbaha Hansda. The Minister of State for Forest is also an actor in Santhali Films.
An analysis of the gender divide reveals that nine including the Chief Minister are women.
Ten (23%) Ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th and 12th standard while 32 (74%) have declared being graduates or above and one Minister is a diploma holder.
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“Seven (16%) Ministers have declared their age to be between 30 and 50 years while 36 (84%) Ministers have declared to be between 51 and 80 years,” the statement said
While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was sworn in on May 5, the Ministers (24 Cabinet, 10 Ministers of State with Independent charge and nine Ministers of State ) were administered the oath on May 10. The Cabinet has 20 new faces this time.