World Bank mulls opening office in Bihar, country director Onno Ruhl praises Nitish Kumar

PATNA: World Bank is mulling opening an office in Bihar, its country director Onno Ruhl said today and praised the developmental initiatives of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"We will open an office of the World Bank in Bihar as I am infatuated with the state and wish to contribute to its development," Ruhl said addressing a function of Innovation forum.

Ruhl surprised everybody by giving his speech in Hindi in which he praised Kumar's developmental initiatives and appreciated his 'Jeevika' scheme.

Speaking on the occasion, the CM said the 'Jeevika' model has been adopted in the country in the name of 'Ajeevika'.

The state government has set a target to constitute 10 lakh self help groups in Bihar by 2017, he said adding around two lakh such groups have already been formed.

Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (BRLPS), an independent society set up by the state government and supported by World Bank, is running 'Jeevika', a rural livelihoods project with the objective of enhancing the social and economic empowerment of the rural poor in the state.

Kumar said SHG women members have been successfully running public distribution system outlets.

The CM awarded many 'innovators' who through water harvesting, mushroom cultivation and goat rearing have helped change the life of the people, particularly in rural areas.