RTI effect: Ministers will have to declare latest assets

Forced by an RTI application,the government today decided to declare the assets and liabilities of Union ministers on demand by the public.

The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to adopt norms for greater transparency after RTI activist Subhash Agrawal asked the Central Information Commission (CIC) to issue a notice to the PMO for not providing details of assets of ministers and their kin following an RTI application.

Agrawal complained of non-compliance by the PMO after it failed to provide complete details of wealth and assets of ministers despite a CIC order.

Sources said that the Cabinet approved the proposal without much discussion,though ministers have in the past ignored reminders by the PMO to annually update declared records of their wealth. The PMO had issued such a directive after the government was formed in May 2009.