After meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee said he would not get into any controversial statements because he had been warned by the Prime Minister.
Addressing the media, Banerjee said, "PM Modi started by cracking a joke on how the media is trying to trap me to say anti-Modi things. He has been watching the TV and he's been watching you guys. And he knows what you're trying to do."
Earlier, Banerjee termed meeting with Modi as a unique experience.
"It was a privilage to have this meeting with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was kind enough to give me quite a lot of time and to talk a lot about his way of thinking about India which is quite unique," he said.
"He (Modi) talked about the way he sees governance in particular...and how it, therefore, creates structures of elite control over the governance process," Banerjee added.
The renowned economist revealed how the Prime Minister is taking steps to reform the bureaucracy.
"He also very nicely explained how he is trying to reform bureaucracy to making it more responsive to understand ways in which people's views need to be taken into account and expose them more to the reality on the ground," Banerjee said.
"I think it was a very important point for India to have a bureaucracy that lives on the ground and get its stimulus from how life is on the ground. Without that, we get an unresponsive government," he signed off saying a thank you to Modi for the unique experience.
During the meeting earlier today, Modi said that Banerjee's passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible and the country is proud of his achievements.
Banerjee called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held a "healthy and extensive" interaction on various subjects at the 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence of the Prime Minister. A picture of their interaction was posted by the prime minister on his official Twitter handle.
Describing the picture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Excellent meeting with Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. His passion towards human empowerment is clearly visible. We had a healthy and extensive interaction on various subjects. India is proud of his accomplishments. Wishing him the very best for his future endeavours."
Indian-origin economist Abhijit Banerjee was awarded the Nobel prize for his efforts to alleviate global poverty along with wife, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. He also addressed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after winning the prestigious award along with wife.
He is the author of a large number of articles and four books, including "Poor Economics", which won the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year award in 2011.
Banerjee is one of the leading development economists. He is presently working as a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In 2011, Banerjee was named one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers. His areas of research are development economics and economic theory.
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