Panchayat Minister asked to be WB brand ambassador

Minister for panchayats and rural development Subrata Mukherjee,who went to the US to meet officials of the World Bank,was offered to become the brand ambassador of the UN agency to countries like Egypt and Morocco to spread the message of the effectiveness of panchayati raj.

Mukherjee revealed this to the media at Nabanna,saying he told them to write to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and seek her clearance. Mukherjee had gone to Washington to seek funds from the World Bank to implement projects like supply of arsenic-free water to the rural areas.

“The Panchayati Raj system in West Bengal is famous in the world. At the World Bank headquarters,it was their director general in- charge of South Asia who gave me the offer. They told me to go to countries like Egypt and Morocco and tell them how effective the system is here. They also said that the political unrest in those countries stem from the fact that money sanctioned does not percolate to the grassroots. I told them they should write to our CM,” Mukherjee said. ens