Opposition parties in Assam have demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into an alleged PPE-kit supply scam during the Covid-19 pandemic by companies linked to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma.
On Thursday, the Congress, Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad sought a probe by the central agency into the irregularities in pandemic supplies — including hand sanitisers and PPE kits — in 2020 when Sarma was the state’s health minister.
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The demands were based on two reports published by Delhi-based news website The Wire, in collaboration with Guwahati-based portal The Cross Current, which had alleged that emergency medical supply orders during the pandemic were given to firms owned by Bhuyan (Sarma’s wife), and the family’s “close” business associates, without following a proper tender process. The allegations were based on RTI replies from the state’s National Health Mission.
Addressing the press while campaigning for the upcoming Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council polls, state Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah accused the Chief Minister and his family of “running a PPE-kit business” when people of Assam were suffering under the lockdown. Wearing PPE kits, Congress workers also protested in Guwahati, demanding a probe into the allegations by either CBI and Directorate of Enforcement (ED). Borah added that supply orders were placed with the firms at 65 per cent higher rates than the market prices.
Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia alleged that Sarma and his family had violated the “code of conduct of ministers”. He added that he had hoped that the Chief Minister would “exhibit some courage” and allow a probe.
Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal described the scam as the “tip of the iceberg”. “The companies involved must be blacklisted for corruption,” Raijor Dal Working president Bhasco De Saikia said. Asom Jatiya Parishad’s Lurinjyoti Gogoi said the charges against the Chief Minister and his family needed to be investigated by an independent agency.
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Meanwhile, Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, refuted the allegations. In a statement shared on Twitter on Wednesday, Bhuyan wrote: “A website called The Wire has come out with an unfounded accusation with regard to my supply of PPE kits to the NHM. In the first week of the pandemic, not a single PPE kit was available in Assam.”
She added: “Taking cognisance of the same, I reached out to a business acquaintance, and delivered around 1,500 PPE kits to the NHM with a lot of effort. Later on, I wrote to the NHM to treat the same as a part of my CSR.”
She also attached a purported picture of NHM’s letter acknowledging the same. She stated that she did not make a “single penny” out of the supply. “I have always been transparent about my belief in giving back to society, irrespective of her husband’s political standing,” she said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
