NEW DELHI: Among Rajya Sabha members who earn money from serving as directors of firms, business tycoon Vijay Mallya made the most, while some Upper House members, including film actress Rekha, claim not to have a single income source, as per a Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) report.
Electoral watchdog NGOs ADR and National Election Watch had obtained the “Register of Member’s Interests”, which details the declarations of Rajya Sabha MPs under five categories – remunerative directorship, regular remunerative activity, shareholding of a controlling nature, paid consultancy and professional engagement.
As per the ADR report, released on Monday, 87 members ie. 41 per cent of Rajya Sabha MPs have declared pecuniary interests.
Mallya leads in two categories – highest amount received from directorships at `8.81 crore per year and highest number of 11 remunerative directorships.
Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi pushed Mallya to second place in the category of regular remunerated activity – `82.33 crore compared to the latter’s `2.51 crore per annum.
Interestingly, several MPs claimed to have no income sources. Film actress Rekha, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2013,has replied nil against all categories for remuneration. The only detail she provided was that she is a “film artist”.
Not surprisingly, Sachin Tendulkar has declared the highest amount under professional engagements at `72.79 crore.
Under paid consultancy, nominated member Ashok Ganguly leads the pack with `36 lakh. Shiv Sena’s Rajkumar Dhoot had declared highest number of shareholdings of controlling nature in 30 companies.
Four members of Parliament with assets worth more than `100 crore have declared that they have no pecuniary interests.