Assam: Congress demands CM Sarma to clarify confusion over PPE kits reportedly bought from China

GUWAHATI: Assam Congress spokesperson Manjit Mahanta has urged the state government to clear the confusion over the procurement of 50,000 PPE kits from Guangzhou, China at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.

According to reports, the state government had placed an order for 50,000 PPE kits with ‘a Delhi supplier’ on March 29, 2020. According to reports, the kits were procured through a Delhi-based supplier, which has not been named.

The supplier took the order, worth nearly Rs 15 crore, only on one condition — the payment has to be made in advance.

According to reports, then minister Sarma reached out to a number of contractors to pay Rs 15 crore to that Delhi-based supplier and take back the money from it once the Assam government cleared its bill on delivery of those 50,000 PPE kits.

Mahanta alluded to a report carried by ‘Crosscurrent’ and ‘The Wire’ according to which the National Health Mission (NHM) Assam which had carried out all the procurements of essentials including PPE kits to meet the COVID-19 crisis categorically distanced itself from Sarma’s claim, stating, “NHM, Assam, didn’t procure any PPE kits from China at any time.”

Mahanta asked the Sarma-led government to clarify what it has done with the kits which were heavily publicized.

He also chastized Sarma for posting a picture where he could be seen in front of a cargo plane apparently carrying the said kits, dismissing it as a "gimmick."

Similarly, Nazira MLA and leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia, who once claimed that the Assam Government is over-paying for the kits, has also expressed concern over the development.

“We are concerned as to how the PPE kits had arrived here – since the Assam Government did not pay for the purchase. The government hasn’t also said that it has received the shipment,” he said, asking Sarma to clarift who had spent the money for the purchase and how the debt had been repaid.

Interestingly, after reports surfaced that the kits were of a sub-standard variety, Sarma said that the kits were being kept aside and that “someone would lose money.”