Friday, March 11, 2011

No hard cash, Bihar bureaucrats own cows, rifles, TVS Scooty!

IF YOU thought you would spot billionaires by scanning asset declaration papers of Bihar bureaucrats you are wrong. As declaration of assets including movable ones are being uploaded in state government websites, you would instead notice how bureaucrats in Bihar have a wide range of asset class from cash and jewellery to cows and rifles.
Most of the assets are traditional in nature --- flats, GPF, NSS, postal savings, LIC policies, vehicles etc. with a little exposure to equity market.
Significantly, state water resources secretary and 1979 batch IAS Afzal Amanullah owns a rifle, a revolver and a double barrel gun. Amanullah was the principal secretary in the department of home between 2006 and 2009. Also, Magadh division commissioner and 1989 batch Bihar cadre IAS Vivek Singh also owns a revolver. Thanks to his writing skills, he earns Rs 1 lakh per year as royalty from his earlier publications.
Another interesting entry in asset class is possession of cows and calves by bureaucrats. Muzaffarpur DM and 1997 batch IAS Santosh Kumar Mall cannot match Lalu Prasad’s possession of domestic animals, but his wife seems to have a passion for pets as she possesses two cows and two calves! Banka DM and 2006 batch IAS Adesh Titarmare too owns two cows and a TVS Scooty!

1 comment: