Conflict in Bargarh as journalist and administrative officer engage in verbal duel

Bargarh: A conflict of words ensued between an administrative officer and a journalist in Bargarh district of Odisha, said reports on Friday. The media representative was not allowed to attend the meeting because of which such a situation arose. The public representatives present there also left the meeting showing their support to the media representative.

The fifth meeting of the sixth District Council was held at the DRDA conference room in Bargarh city. Bargarh Lok Sabha MP Pradeep Purohit, Bargarh MLA Ashwini Sadangi, Atabira MLA Nihar Ranjan Mahanand, Bijepur MLA Sanat Kumar Gartia, Padmapur MLA Barsha Singh Bariha, District Magistrate Aditya Goel, public representatives and Administrative Officers of various departments were all present in the meeting. The Journalists were invited to attend the meeting by DIPRO. One of the officials reportedly asked the Journalists to leave the meeting after which the conflict in Bargarh arose. There was utter discord and a battle of words at the scene.

One of the journalists present there expressed his displeasure on such a situation. As a result, the meeting was paused for a moment. Some of the District Councillors and Block Officials also left the meeting. The official who was at the root cause of the situation apologised to pacify the situation but there was no avail. The journalist was not ready to calm down. After the incident came to the public knowledge, different people had different opinions regarding the matter. But, many people criticized the behaviour of the journalist stating it to be blown out of proportion.