GUWAHATI: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s pursuit for transparency in the subsidy row involving a company owned by Assam Chief Minister’s spouse, has made him knock on the door of the Prime Minister.
Eight days after writing to Union Minister Piyush Goyal demanding Centre’s intervention on the alleged scam under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), the Koliabor MP, on Tuesday, shot another letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drawing his attention to the matter.
Much like the letter sent to the Union Commerce and Industry Minister on September 18, Gogoi apprised the Prime Minister about government funds being allocated to M/S Pride East Entertainment, the company where Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, serves as the chairman and managing director.
“Assam is home to many small and medium entrepreneurs, and companies with vast experience in food processing. Ignoring them for a media entity with links to the sitting Chief Minister is gross injustice to them,” the letter read.
Gogoi, while referring to a parliamentary reply by Minister Goyal mentioning M/S Pride East Entertainment Pvt Ltd as a beneficiary of an approved grant-in-aid of Rs 10 crore under the PMKSY, raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and misuse of government resources.
“In my humble opinion such companies should seek credit from the financial sector or banks. Government grants must be given to the genuine and needy beneficiaries who have displayed the expertise to utilise the tax-payers money in the proper manner,” the letter read.
The issue had come to light when a Guwahati-based digital media outlet published a report claiming that over 50 bigha (approximately 17 acres) of agricultural land in Darigaji village, Koliabor in Nagaon district, was reclassified as industrial land just a month after being purchased by the said company.
On September 14, Chief Minister Sarma vehemently refuted the claims stating that he would willingly step away from public service, if evidence emerges proving his wife’s receipt or claim of funds from the Indian government.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana is a comprehensive initiative designed to develop modern infrastructure and efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlets, with the aim of bolstering the food processing sector in India.
