World Bank, West Bengal government to improve infrastructure of villages

KOLKATA: Recently, the World Bank has sanctioned 163 crore rupees to the state government for making arrangements for drinking water and toilets particularly for women in the villages of West Bengal. The state government as a part of the matching-grant has sanctioned another 153 crore for the purpose.
According to the state panchayat department, a total amount of 316 crore has been sanctioned for the improvement of drinking water facility and permanent toilets in 3229 panchayat in the state.“Since 2017 the panchayat department in collaboration with the World Bank have been working for the improvement of the civic amenities of the villages in the state and there have been several areas where the state has shown remarkable development,” a state panchayat department official said.
“So far construction of roads, digging of canal for sufficient water supply for agriculture and medical facilities have been provided by the department. The World Bank has promised to provide 1600 crore for the improvement of infrastructure of the panchayats and accordingly they have been provided the money in instalments. The recent sanction has been made of the improvement of basic civic amenities like drinking water and toilets for the women in the villages,” the official said.
According to officials in the state government, the officials of the World Bank has surveyed the development work carried out in the villages and they are satisfied with the work and so they have decided to sanction the next instalment. “The civic facilities in the villages particularly for the women are very poor and our chief minister is keen to improve the situation. She has instructed all the ministers and the panchayat department to work together so that the living condition in the villages improve and we are working to provide better facilities to the women in the villages,” a senior trinamool congress minister said.