ஏழை மந்திரிமாரும், அவர்தம் பணக்கார மனைவிமாரும் : எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் நாளிதழில் ஆய்வுரை

மனைவி பெயரில் ரூ 7.14 கோடிக்கு  சொத்துகள் இருக்கும்போது, பாவம், ஏழை  அமைச்சரான பொன்முடியிடம் ரூ 1.08 கோடிக்கு மட்டுமே சொத்துகள் உள்ளதாக அவர் தான் சமர்ப்பித்த தகவலில் குறிப்பிட்டுள்ளதாக இந்தியன் எக்ஸ்பிரஸ் கட்டுரை குறிப்பிடுகின்றது. இது போலவே, மு கருணாநிதி, துரைமுருகன், வீரபாண்டி ஆறுமுகம், கே ஆர் பெரிய கருப்பன், பரிதி இளம் வழுதி, என் செல்வராஜ், எம் பி சாமிநாதன், தங்கம் தென்னரசு,  ஆகிய அமைச்சர்களை விட அவர்கள் மனைவியிடம் கூடுதல் சொத்துகள் உள்ளதாக இந்த ஆய்வுரை குறிப்பிடுகின்றது. தமிழ் நாளிதழ்கள் எதிலும் இதுபோன்ற ஆய்வுரையைக் காண இயலவில்லை.

TN: Poorer ministers and richer better halfs

CHENNAI: A majority of the incumbent cabinet of Tamil Nadu has one thing in common. Seventeen of the 28 ministers, who are contesting the coming election, are poorer than their spouses. Apart from heading the cabinet, DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi also leads the roost of ministers with richer better halfs.The poorest among these 17 ‘poorer’ ministers is Fisheries Minister KPP Samy. In his affidavit for elections, he has declared assets of Rs 16.99 lakh and Rs 66.28 lakh for his wife, Uma Samy. He does not own a car, while his wife owns a Mahindra Scorpio, purchased on a bank loan. Uma Samy also owns 720 gms of gold.Leading the cabinet on the rich-spouse front is Karunanidhi. His assets amount to a paltry Rs 4.92 crore compared to the double whammy of his wives, who boast of combined assets of a whopping Rs 39.42 crore. Between the three of them, they have only one car, owned by Dayalu Ammal.Another minister whose two wives pull their economic weight at home is Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S Arumugam. With assets worth Rs 75.18 lakh, there may not be too much difference from his wife, A Ranganayaki, who has Rs 93 lakh. But even the two of them together fall short of his other wife,  A Leela, who owns assets worth Rs 2.25 crore.Leela owns the only car between the three of them, a BMW sedan worth Rs 31 lakh. Mentioned in the affidavit as a businesswoman and agriculturist, Leela owns property in T Nagar and Panayur in Chennai and a whopping 38000 sq ft property in Sirugumi. She owns 2528 gms of gold, while Ranganayaki owns none.But the relative poverty strikes other ministers wider. N Selvaraj’s wife Krishnammal is 10 times richer than him with assets Rs 3.67 crore. Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy is worth only 1/7th of this wife, Visalakshi, who owns Rs 7.14 crore.Wives of Ministers like Durai Murugan and Suresh Rajan were not only richer than their husbands, they are also major share holders in private companies. While Duraimurugan’s wife Shantakumari has invested Rs 1.39 crore in Rajama exports, Suresh Rajan’s wife Bharathi has shares worth Rs 1.20 crore of NSR Steels Private Limited.Even as a clear trend emerges, where ministers own little but their spouses own much, one minister emerges richer than his wife, but way poorer than his son. Transport Minister KN Nehru owns assets worth Rs 1.21 crore, while his son Arun Nehru’s assets amount to Rs 15.74 crore, 13 times more than his  father.Not just assets, a majority of the ministers also listed liabilities for their spouses, leaving little or nothing for themselves.Poongothai beats hubbyOf the three women ministers in the cabinet, only IT Minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna is richer than her spouse, with Rs 9.75 crore. A substantial part of her assets constitute of land she has inherited. Poongothai and her husband also own property in two villages along the IT corridor. The other two women, Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister A Tamilarasi and Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan, both own lesser than their husbands. While the asset gap between Tamilarasi, with Rs 27.68 lakh, is close behind her realtor husband Ravikumar, it is wide between Geetha Jeevan and her husband Jeevan Jacob Rajendran. While the Social Welfare Minister’s assets amount to Rs 18.84 lakh, Jeevan Jacob owns Rs 2.64 crore. While none of the women own a car, between them they own a combined 1,700 gms, with Poongothai owning no gold at all.

Source : New Indian Express