According to a report by The Wire and The Cross Current, based on a series of Right to Information (RTI) replies, Assam government placed “urgent order” of COVID-19 medical supplies in 2020 to companies that are owned by present chief minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife and his immediate family’s business associates.
In 2020, during the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Himanta Biswa Sarma was the health minister of Assam.
The report claimed that COVID-19 related medical supplies were bought by the Assam government at a much higher rate.
“For instance, the Assam government paid Rs 25 (Rs 37 with GST) to a firm for each 200-ml bottle of sanitiser it ordered. To another, with links to Himanta Biswa Sarma, it paid Rs 231 for every 500-ml bottle and Rs 100.30 for every 100-ml bottle – Rs 137 and Rs 81 more per bottle respectively if the former firm’s rates were to be applied,” the report read.
“Among the most significant beneficiaries of such ‘urgent’ work orders – along with JCB Industries, owned by Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma – were GRD Pharmaceuticals and Meditime Healthcare, both owned by Guwahati-based Ghanshyam Dhanuka,” the report added.
Also read: Firms linked to Assam CM got “urgent PPE orders” before COVID-19 lockdown: Report
The report further stated: “Interestingly, Sarma’s son Nandil Biswa Sarma is currently a majority stakeholder in Vasistha Realtors (formerly RBS Realtors), a firm where Ghanshyam’s father, Ashok Dhanuka, is a full-time director.”
“The RTI responses have revealed that GRD Pharmaceuticals, owned by Dhanuka, bagged major contracts for supplying hand sanitisers to the state government during the pandemic. Crucially, the state government bought the hand sanitisers from Dhanuka’s company at a price that was substantially above the available market rates. The health ministry helmed by Sarma also appears to have bent over backwards to accommodate conditions put forward by Dhanuka’s companies to procure the medical paraphernalia – for instance, PPE kits were delivered at the Assam Bhavan in New Delhi, instead of Guwahati,” the report claimed.
“…‘urgent work order’ to another Assam-based firm, Surma Distillery Private Limited, to supply 1,30,000 hand sanitisers of 200 ml each. However, this was at a rate much lower than what NHM had agreed to pay GRD Pharmaceuticals,” it added.