New Delhi: Civil rights activist Dr Binayak Sen has agreed to join the Planning Commission's committee on health.
The 40-member steering committee on health is expected to hold first meeting on Wednesday. Convicted for sedition and out on bail now, Sen will be giving his inputs for the 12th Five-year plan on health related issues.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has refused to attend any Planning Commission meeting to protest Dr Sen's appointment.
A member of the Planning Commission on Health, Syeda Hameed had said that Sen has been appointed on the important committee as "he has worked in the area of malnutrition in tribal children".
"We need his input on malnutrition in tribal children while formulating the 12th Plan, " she added.
The 61-year-old rights activist, a paediatrician, has worked in Chhattisgarh's tribal belt.
He has been sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites.
However, the Supreme Court granted him bail in April after which he was released from Raipur Jail.
Sen, the Vice-president of People's Union of Civil Liberties, was sentenced to life imprisonment along with Naxal ideologue Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata businessman Piyush Guha for colluding with the Maoists to establish a network to fight the state.
His conviction and sentence had led to outrage in many quarters, including international human rights bodies.
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