Centre organized health camp boycotted by Jharkhand minister as CM not invited

KHUNTI: A one-day mega health camp organised by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry in Khunti district was boycotted by Banna Gupta, the Jharkhand Health Minister on Sunday for not inviting Chief Minister Hemant Soren to the event.

Gupta, who went to the venue at Birsa College Ground in Khunti town at the invitation of the Deputy Commissioner, did not enter the venue and returned without attending the event after finding out that Soren's name was not on the list of invitees.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda was the chief guest of the event and Governor Ramesh Bais had also attended.

"Organisers had put up my poster on the dais but I was pained to see that neither was our CM invited nor was his poster displayed. Ours is an elected government and Hemant Soren is our leader. I can not tolerate any insult to him. Omitting the CM is tantamount to insulting the state," Gupta told PTI.

While welcoming such mega health camps for the poor wholeheartedly, Gupta alleged that the Centre was trying to make political gains from such events.

"In a democratic setup, differences in opinion between the Centre and the state is not new but expressing hatred or insulting anyone on the pretext of that is not acceptable," he said.

Khunti Deputy Commissioner Shashi Ranjan said the district administration was responsible for maintaining law and order as more than 50,000 tribals from across the district were expected to take part in it.

"The invitations for the event were sent by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry, and not by the district administration," he added.