Hemant Soren made a pit stop to check how an amla sapling he had planted around eight years ago at the forest department shelter home at Bokaro’s Patarwar was doing.

The chief minister was on his way to Ranchi from Bokaro after paying his respects to Rajendra Prasad Singh, the late Bermo MLA.

Soren said he was happy having seen the sapling grow and praised forest officials for caring for it.

The Indian gooseberry sapling was planted by Soren on November 8, 2012, when he was Jharkhand’s deputy chief minister. He said there was nothing more valuable than natural wealth and human life would be safe only if nature thrived.

Soren also called for the saving and planting of trees.

Later, he spoke to top district officials about the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Voice of the poor’

At Singh’s home in Bermo, Soren said the veteran Congress leader and former health minister was the voice of poor in the state.

“We have lost one of our political guardians, who used to guide us in developmental activities,” he said. Health minister Banna Gupta, agriculture minister Badal Patralekh and other MLAs and politicians were also present.

Deputy commissioner, Bokaro, Mukesh Kumar and superintendent Chandan Kumar were also at the event.