New Delhi: President Pratibha Patil made her assets public on Monday and has become the first Indian President to declare her assets.
Her assets include a house in Amravati worth Rs 39 lakh, a farm house worth Rs 10 lakh and close to eight hectares of land in Jalgaon worth Rs 34 lakh.
Her immovable assets, including shares and jewellery, amount to around Rs 2.5 crore.
She has also declared cash in hand amounting to around Rs 1.9 lakh. What is significant is that there is no legal obligation on the President to declare her assets.
She has fixed deposits in various banks worth Rs 68.80 lakh, investment worth Rs 29 lakh in Rural Electrification Corporation Limited bonds, Rs 4.71 lakh in Post Office Savings Scheme and Rs 12.60 lakh in Public Provident Fund of the State Bank of India, according to the property statement of March 31, 2011.
She has gold jewellery worth Rs 31 lakh and silver articles worth Rs 69,134 as well as Rs 16.33 lakh in her savings bank accounts, besides Rs 1.87 lakh cash in hand.
As far as the share market is concerned, the President has invested only Rs 21,775. She has also invested Rs 66,640 in Sanjivini Savings and Investments Limited.
The President's move comes after an appeal from the Central Information Commission to decide on making her assets public on the lines of the Prime Minister and other members of the Union Council of Ministers.
"Now that various functionaries like ministers, judges and Information Commissioners have voluntarily put up details of their assets on websites, it is for the President to take a decision on this matter," Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi had said last month in an order.
Activist Subhash Agrawal had sought to know the details of the assets of President Pratibha Patil and her family members and steps taken to place them on the website.
The President's Secretariat refused to give information since the information was not available on record. It also said there was no legal requirement for the President to declare her personal as well as family's assets.
Gandhi underlined the fact that he had no powers under the RTI act to pass any direction in this regard.
"The Commission cannot pass any direction in this regard, as it does not come within the Commission's powers as mandated under the RTI Act," he had said.
With additional information from PTI
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