Asset management

An RTI application to the Cabinet Secretariat seeking the assets of Union ministers and their family members has turned into a hot potato. First bureaucrats passed the buck to the PMO which, under a loose code of conduct, collects this information. However, with the RTI Act not clear as to whether this information should be disclosed or not and given that the Election Commission has made public the affidavits of Lok Sabha MPs, the PMO too chose a safe route. It returned the file back to the Cabinet Secretariat and offered that it could take all the relevant documents it wants from the PMO. Now, what document to ask for? The question haunts the Cabinet Secretariat.