August 13, 2014
WB Panchayati Raj system receives international recognition
The Panchayati Raj system in West Bengalhas received international recognition time and again. Another feather has beenadded to the department, this time thanks to the World Bank and UNICEF.
The State Panchayat Minister Mr SubrataMukherjee will leave for Stockholm on August 17 to attend a programme inEurope. The World Bank has opined that West Bengal did exceptionally good workin the field of rural development and rural water supply. That is why the Statewas invited to attend the 7-day conference on Rural Development and Rural WaterSupply at the Swedish capital, said the Rural Development and PanchayatMinister.
A World Bank report dated March, 2013,praised the Panchayati Raj system in Bengal. “Performance of GramPanchayats has improved substantially on annual plan preparation, financialmanagement including audit, accounting and financial reporting, absorptioncapacity of untied grants, project execution and service delivery and ensuringparticipation, transparency and disclosure of information,” the World Bankreport said.
Another recent World Bank report alsocommended the State for growth and poverty reduction in the Ganga basin.
The State Panchayat Minister was invited tovisit the World Bank headquarters in Washington in December, 2013. The WorldBank was very pleased with the speed of the work and they had invited theMinister to visit Washington to hold talks with them on several ongoing ruraldevelopment schemes in West Bengal. ThePanchayat Minister also had a meeting with the World Bank Officials to discussthe creation of an international institute for research on gram panchayats.
