PATNA: The chairperson of a European Union delegation visiting Bihar, Graham Watson, said here on Tuesday that the state, known as one of the poorest in India, has made remarkable progress. He was talking to newsmen after the delegation’s visit to rural areas of Vaishali district on Tuesday.
The delegation vice-chairman, Charalampos Angourakis, said he found people of Bihar confident about their future and beaming with aspiration, which, he noted, was a very important sign of a country moving forward. “Such a spirit is almost absent in European countries,” he said.
However, he found near absence of mechanization in farming in the rural areas of Vaishali. Some mechanization would have yielded better results for the farming community and their conditions would have been better, Angourakis said.
When asked about the condition of roads in Bihar, Watson said the roads here were better than those inBelgium and Romania. He was seconded by a delegation member, Franziska Keller.
Anna Rosbach  a member of the delegation from Denmark – said she was moved by the friendliness and warmth of the villagers – boys, girls, men and women. Other member of the delegation said in unison that they were really impressed by the warmth of the people of Bihar.
Watson said European Union wanted to renew cooperation with India as well as Bihar. The delegation will meet chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday.