Guwahati, Jul 3: The opposition Congress on Wednesday demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged sale of 90 Gir cows from an Assam government project to individuals, including the wife of a BJP minister, MP and several MLAs.
Addressing a press conference here, senior Congress leader Ram Prasad Sarmah alleged that funds are available for ministers and MLAs, but not to support ‘gaushalas’ (cowsheds) to look after the cows.
“There have been widespread irregularities and corruption in the Gorukhuti agricultural project. There is a clear mismatch in the statements made by Padma Hazarika, the project chairman, and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma,” he claimed.
The Gorukhuti Multipurpose Agriculture Project was set up after a massive eviction drive was carried out in 2021 to remove alleged encroachers, belonging mostly to Bengali-speaking Muslims, in which two persons, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed.
Sarmah asserted that the CM tried to defend the project, but MLA Hazarika stated that the Agriculture Department misled him on several fronts.
“And above all, it came out that one minister, BJP MLAs, the state president of the party and several people close to the government have illegally purchased Gir cows brought for the Gorukhuti project,” he said.
The process did not follow any protocol and violated set rules, the Congress leader alleged.
“There has been discrepancy in the statements made by the government functionaries. There have been allegations of serious corruption. We demand a CBI inquiry into the misappropriation and corruption in the Gorukhuti project,” said Sarmah, a former MP and an advocate in the Gauhati High Court.
The project was established in over 77,000 bighas of agricultural land after evicting Indian citizens, with a total expenditure of nearly Rs 25 crore, he said.
“After Padma Hazarika was given cabinet minister status and large public funds were spent, people expected the project to benefit the common people of Assam and provide employment to the unemployed.
“Both CM Sarma and Chairman Hazarika had claimed that milk production from Gir cows in Gorukhuti would meet Assam’s dairy demand. But instead, there has been a massive misuse of public money and politicisation of the entire initiative,” Sarmah alleged.
Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said in a press meet last week that 90 Gir cows, originally bought for the Gorukhuti project, were sold off to private individuals, including his wife, BJP state chief Dilip Saikia, MLAs Bhubon Pegu, Diganta Kalita and Utpal Bora.(PTI)
