Guwahati, Sep 24 (IANS): Senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has alleged that one of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's close aides was involved in rampant corruption in approving government projects and companies owned by the family members of that leader completed the construction of a 17-km road only in seven days.

Saikia, who is the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, claimed that the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), which is presided over by Tuliram Ronghang, a trusted associate of Sarma, indulged in nepotism to siphon off public funds.

He told reporters here on Saturday, citing publicly accessible official records, that only family members and close friends of Ronghang, the Chief Executive Member of KAAC, had received funding for government projects under various programmes.

"On March 28, 2019, the Hill Area Development Department received a special grant of Rs 100 crore from the CM's Road Improvement Package. Splitting the task between two companies, one run by Ronghang's brother and the other by his wife, was not done with due diligence," Saikia said.

According to him, the two companies received contracts totalling 60 crore and 40 crore, respectively.

"The subpar execution of the assigned work demonstrates that the purpose was to embezzle with total disregard for the welfare of the people. As the majority of these projects had already been sponsored by one award or another, there was overlap in the work," the Congress leader alleged.

He used the seven-day completion of a 17-km section of the Diphu-Dillai-Sarihajan Road as an illustration.

Saikia said, "If a company is able to build a 17-km road in a week, the engineering technology it uses should be implemented across all road construction projects of the subcontinent."

He also added that Himanta Biswa Sarma was the Finance Minister of Assam at the time the project was approved.