Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said the state government is keen to seek advice from Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee and involve him in various developmental projects. The government also wants to seek the help of his mother, who is also a respected researcher in Economics. Mamata Banerjee was interacting with the media after she called on Nobel laureate’s mother Nirmala Banerjee at her South Kolkata residence today.

The chief minister congratulated her on her son’s achievement and expressed keenness to get her son involved in various developmental projects as and when he finds time to share his knowledge with the government. “We are very proud of Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee for being the sixth recipient of the coveted Nobel prize from Bengal. It is a double delight for Bengal as Banerjee along with his wife Esther Duflo won the Nobel. We are very glad and the state government is willing to utilise his expertise and seek inputs in various developmental projects of the state according to his availability. We want to utilise his expertise for the growth of agriculture, education and rural development projects. Besides, we also want to get her mother on board for her valuable advice on various departments’ functions as she is also a respected researcher in economics,” Ms Banerjee said.

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Ms Banerjee, who was accompanied by home secretary Alapan Banerjee and information and cultural minister Indranil Sen among other senior officials today visited the Nobel laureate’s South Kolkata residence at around 5 pm for a courtesy call and exchanged pleasantries with her. Chief minister Ms Banerjee spent about 40 minutes with the Nobel laureate’s mother. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, an Indian-American, has jointly won the Nobel prize in economics along with his wife Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. He bagged the award for his “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”.

Ms Banerjee also informed that the state government would organise a grand felicitation for the Nobel laureate in the near future. Abhijit Banerjee was made one of the members of the mentor group of the presidency college by chief minister Mamata Banerjee in 2011 after her government came to power.