“My wife came forward & donated 1500 PPE kits free of cost during the pandemic,” clarifies CM Assam

June 4: “At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years , Assam hardly had any PPE Kits My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives She didn’t take a single penny.” This was clarified by Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma in the backdrop of PPE kit controversy involving his wife’s company during the Covid pandemic in 2020.

When Himanta Biswa Sarma was the health minister in the previous Sarbananda Sonowal govt in Assam, JCB Industries, a firm owned by his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma was granted an urgent work order to supply 5,000 PPE kits, despite having  no history of supplying or producing medical equipment and safety gears.It was also claimed that apart from JCB Industries, orders for PPE kits to two other firms – GRD Pharmaceuticals and Meditime Healthcare were given.

News portal Wire on the basis of some RTI reports claimed that  JCB Industries and Meditime Healthcare failed to meet the delivery of goods on the target date. Secondly, the Wire claimed that PPE kits at higher rate (Rs 990 per piece) were procured from the companies, on the same day it bought PPE kits at the rate of Rs 600 per piece from another Assam-based firm, NE Surgical Industries.

Responding to this, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, the wife of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Wednesday denied allegations of a scam by her company in the supply of PPE kits during the COVID-19 pandemic.Taking to Twitter, she called the accusations published on the news portal The Wire “unfounded”. To support her claims, she also posted the letter of appreciation dated March 27, 2020, issued to JCB Industries by NHM-Assam director S Lakshmanan for supplying the kits. The same letter was also posted in a separate tweet by CM Dr Sarma on Saturday. 

My statement. pic.twitter.com/kGvWeCTDjj

— RINIKI BHUYAN SHARMA (@rinikibsharma) June 1, 2022

The letter of appreciation written by the NHM Assam Mission Director to JCB Industries says that he extends his heartfelt gratitude to her organisation for helping the govt with 1485 PPE kits. The subject of the letter says that it is an appreciation letter for providing PPE kits as Corporate Social Responsibility during Covid-19 pandemic.

माननीय मुख्यमंत्री @himantabiswa जी! यह रहा आपकी पत्नी की JCB इंडस्ट्रीज के नाम 990/- प्रति किट के हिसाब से 5000 किट ख़रीदने का contract… बताइए क्या यह काग़ज़ झूँठा है?

क्या स्वास्थ्यमंत्री रहते अपनी पत्नी की कम्पनी को बिना टेंडर purchase order देना भ्रष्टाचार नहीं है? https://t.co/qHcZYjfkrv pic.twitter.com/XR5q9V2bTe

— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) June 4, 2022

Meanwhile, AAP leader Manish Sisodia citing media reports on Saturday alleged that as India battled the Covid pandemic in 2020, then Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma gave contracts to companies of his wife and son’s business partners to supply PPE kits above market rates. The AAP leader asked why the members of the BJP were silent on corruption by a chief minister of a state ruled by the saffron party.

The Assam government on Saturday refuted all such allegations. Government spokesman Pijush Hazarika said, “The allegations are ‘false, imaginary, malicious and can be attributed as the handiwork of a certain section with vested interests.” Taking to his twitter handle on Saturday, CM Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote to AAP Health Minister Manish Sisodia, “Stop sermonising and I will see you soon in Guwahati as you will face criminal defamation.”

Stop sermonising and I will see you soon in Guwahati as you will face criminal defamation.

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 4, 2022

In a series of tweets, CM Assam also wrote, “While you Mr Manish Sisodia at that point of time showed a completely different side. You refused my multiple calls to help Assamese people stuck in Delhi. I can never forget one instance when I had to wait 7 days just to get a Assamese covid victim’s body from Delhi’s mortuary.”

On the other hand, the opposition Congress, Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) had separately demanded a high-level probe by CBI, ED or any other central agencies into the alleged irregularities in supply of PPE kits in 2020 by firms linked to Sarma’s wife when he was the health minister in the previous BJP government in the state.