On the night of April 15, 2020 Himanta Biswa Sarma – the then health minister of Assam – arrived at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) airport in Guwahati.

Purpose of this ‘hyped’ arrival of Himanta Biswa Sarma was to receive a consignment of PPE kits that the Assam government claimed to have bought from a firm in Guangzhou in China.

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“While government of India procured over 1.70 lakh PPE kit from China, we have procured 50,000 PPE kit from the Guangzhou in China. This is probably the first time that a state in the country has procured on its own,” Himanta Biswa Sarma – the then health minister of Assam and current chief minister – Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters at the LGBI airport after receiving the PPE kits consignment on April 15, 2020.

But did the Assam government really buy PPE kits from China?

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According to Assam National Health Mission (NHM), no PPE kits were procured by the state government at any time.

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According to a report published by The Wire, the Assam NHM in an RTI reply to The Cross Current, distanced itself from Himanta Biswa Sarma’s claim.

“NHM, Assam, didn’t procure any PPE kits from China at any time,” the Assam NHM stated in the RTI reply, according to The Wire report.

Credit: The Cross Current

The Assam NHM stated it “had placed orders for PPE kits to various business entities, within the country only.”

It added: “…have no information on individuals who might have transferred money to any other country for procuring PPE kits.”

On asked to confirm the huge amount said to have been spent by the state government to procure those PPE kits from China, NHM once again reiterated that it “didn’t procure/transport any PPE kits from China at any time nor have paid any money for this purpose”, the report read.

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NHM stated that it “did not receive any PPE kits from China and therefore there is no information in this regard as it is not under the preview (purview) of NHM, Assam”.

Meanwhile, The Wire and The Cross Current have jointly sent a mail to the Assam health department and the also the Assam finance department – both then headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma – asking to confirm if either of the departments had placed an order for 50,000 PPE kits with “a Delhi supplier” on March 29, 2020 as reported in media.