Becharam Manna ready look after NRLM project

KOLKATA: West Bengal Minister of State for agriculture Becharam Manna today said he was ready to shoulder the additional responsibility of looking after the National Rural Livelihood Mission stated to have been assigned by the chief minister yesterday.

The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is a poject under the department of Panchayat held by senior minister and top Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee.

Manna said that he would work under the advice of Mukherjee.

"I will discharge my additional responsibility given by Didi seriously. And I will work seeking the advice of Subrata Mukherjee", Manna, a frontline face during the Singur agitation and staunch Mamata Banerjee loyalist, said.

Banerjee was stated to have announced this at a cabinet meeting yesterday though there was no official notification in this regard.

"You write whatever you can. I don't want to make any comment" Mukherjee told reporters when asked about the move to give it to Manna, much junior to Mukherjee and a first time MLA.

Mukherjee today attended the inauguration of "Mati Utsav" (Earth festival) by Mamata at Panagarh in Burdwan district.

NRLM, known as Aajeevika/Anandadhara in Bengal, is meant to moblize rural poor in self-helf groups, link them with banks, help them earn a livelhihood and also facilitate skill development.

There was however no comment from the party leadership in this regard.