Guwahati, Sep 26 (PTI) Deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene in the Centre's subsidy to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's wife under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY). In a letter to the prime minister, Gogoi said that the ministry of food processing industries allocated Rs 10 crore to Pride East Entertainments Private Limited, whose promoter is Riniki Bhuyan Sharma, the wife of the Assam chief minister under PMKSY and the Scheme for Creation of Infrastructure for Agro-clusters. The name of Pride East Entertainments Private Limited can also be found in the list of beneficiaries on the website of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, he said in the letter.

The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal on March 22, 2023 while replying to questions in the Lok Sabha on whether the government has taken any initiative to invest in Assam in order support the promotion of industries, had submitted a list of food processing projects supported under PMKSY in the north eastern states as on January 31, 2022.

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Pride East Entertainments Private Limited found mention at serial number seven, Gogoi pointed out. '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," he alleged. Gogoi pointed out that Sarma's post on X on September 14 saying 'Yes, all family members of BJP politicians have the right to run their own companies and seek government subsidies if they are entitled to them". '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,' he said in the letter. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma has filed a Rs 10 crore defamation suit against Gogoi for 'false allegations' of receiving the subsidy in the food processing project. It has been filed at the court of civil judge (senior division) of Kamrup Metropolitan on September 22 and it will be moved on September 26. Sarma and Gogoi are locked in a war of words on 'X' since September 14 on the issue.

The chief minister has repeatedly denied that neither his wife nor the company she is associated with has received or claimed any amount from the Government of India. He also said that he was ready for any punishment, including retirement from public life, if there is

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any evidence that his wife has received or claimed any amount from the Government of India.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)