Parliament has announced the ministries whose Demands for Grants will be discussed in detail in the Lok Sabha (after April 12 when Parliament reconvenes). They are:
Defence
Rural Development
Tribal Affairs
Water Resources
External Affairs
Road Transport and Highways
Together these ministries have asked Parliament for a total of Rs 289,938 crore (Rs 175,772 crore for Defence alone) – which is slightly over a quarter of the total expenditure budgeted by the Central Government for 2010-11.
The Rajya Sabha does not discuss demands for grants but has announced a list of ministries whose functioning it will review after the recess. They are:
Home Affairs
Tribal Affairs
Defence
Power
Chemicals and Fertilizers
Petroleum and Natural Gas
Youth affairs and Sports
Women and Child Development
Consumer affairs, Food and Public Distribution
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
The issue of judges declaring their assets assumes importance in light of recent allegations and inquiries into allegations of wrongdoing by judges (read our post on the report of the Committee set up to examine allegations of wrongdoing by Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court). The Delhi High Court also gave a judgement recently, requiring judges of the Supreme Court to declare their assets. The Bill on judicial accountability (read summary here) requires judges to declare their assets to a specified authority within 30 days of them taking their oath of office. The assets of spouses and dependents is also required to be disclosed. The Bill also states that the assets declared will be put up on the website of the relevant court.
