56% ministers in state council have criminal cases against them: ADR

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has the highest percentage of ministers facing serious criminal charges along with Andhra Pradesh, according to data released by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) on Saturday. As per ADR statistics, 56% of ministers in Odisha's council have serious criminal cases registered against them. Odisha has 16 ministers in its council, while Andhra has 25. Out of the 16 ministers, 88% have some type of criminal case registered against them. "This is a significant concern for the state, which is facing issues of governance and public trust. The situation in Odisha mirrors a broader trend across India, where a substantial number of MLAs/ministers in various states have declared criminal cases in their affidavits," Sahadeva Sahoo, former chief secretary and adviser to Odisha Election Watch (OEW). "All the criminal cases were registered when the politicians were MLAs and later became ministers," Sahoo added.Nationally, 136 out of 336 BJP ministers, 45 out of 61 from Congress, and 27 out of 31 from DMK have declared criminal cases. In the Union council of ministers, 40% out of 72 ministers have declared criminal cases. In contrast, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Uttarakhand have no ministers with declared criminal cases. ADR data also sheds light on gender representation, with only 10% of the total 643 ministers in the country being women. West Bengal leads with the highest number of women ministers, while Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Sikkim have none.