Bihar bureaucrats to make assets public

"For bureaucrats who fail to comply with the directive their salaries will be withheld thereafter," official sources told PTI today.

They would have to file the details in the formats prescribed for the ministers, the sources said adding they would have to furnish moveable, immoveable assets list along with property details of their spouses and children.

The ministers submitted the details of their assets on December 31, 2010 to the chief minister in his bid to bring in transparency in governance and to weed out corruption in public life.

"Now, that a decision has been taken to make the assets of bureaucrats public, Bihar would be the first state to do so and could prompt other states to take a cue from it," ruling JD(U) spokesperson Sanjay Singh said.

In Bihar, the sanctioned strength of IAS officers is about 242, while the number of IPS officers is 231. In the state cadre there are over 2,000 gazetted officers, including those in the state administrative service and state police service.