Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday remained absent from a Planning Commission meet of five eastern States in Patna.
Mr. Singh boycotted the Regional Consultation of Five Eastern States to Approach Paper for the 12th plan as he was opposed to making rights activist Binayak Sen as a Steering Committee member of the Planning Commission’s committee on health.
Official sources said Mr. Sen was not present in the meeting.
Arjun Munda, Mamata also absent
Though Arjun Munda, the Jharkhand Chief Minister, did not come to attend the meet as he was abroad, his Deputy Chief Ministers Sudesh Mahato and Hemant Soren represented the State.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sent her Planning Minister to the meeting, while Deputy Chairman of State Planning Commission Shivraj Singh represented Chhattisgarh.
Besides, Union Minister of State for Planning Ashwani Kumar, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman M. S. Ahluwalia and 21 other members of the Commission and a Central team were present.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Orissa counterpart Naveen Patnaik also participated in the meeting and raised the issues to be covered in the approach paper.
Keywords: Raman Singh, Binayak Sen, plan panel
