Even as the government of India has made a token response on clean-up of the river Ganga, the World Bank (WB) has a word of advice to New Delhi. It has asked the government to take the matter seriously and hold active consultations from different stakeholders involved in the project. "People in India have strong feelings about the river. They deserve to be heard," Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank in a press interaction on Friday said in response to recent fast by former IIT professor GD Agarwal who is known as Swami Gyanswaroop Sanand.

"There are economic, historic, religious and environment dimensions involved with the river. So there should be active consultations with different stakeholders. This responsibility lies with the Indian government," he told reporters.

And why is the World Bank worried? Last year, the Bank had approved $1 billion dollar assistance to clean up the Ganges. After the formation of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) in 2009, the authority has met twice under the chairmanship of prime minister Manmohan Singh. It is slated to meet once again on April 17 after Sanand went on an epic fast to highlight the matter at the highest level.

On another controversial subject of povery debate, Zoellick said the matter was overdone. "The number of people below poverty line in India has reduced. This is a good thing. I tell you frankly that in my opinion it has been overdone," he added.

On his successor, the outgoing president preferred an American taking charge from him who is demitting the office in June. "I would suggest if you want to keep the United States engaged in multilateral organisations, keep openings somewhere ... because the issue is (to) keep the United States supporting some of these organisations," said Zoellick. The developing countries have been advocating for transparent process in selecting the president of Washington headquatered Bank, a post traditionally held by an American.

Commenting on the new initiative by the BRICS nations in setting up a joint development bank, the president said that it is not an easy task but there will be full cooperation from the WB. "India was one of the sponsors of this idea (BRICS bank). And partly because they wanted more funds for infrastructure development...if they do develop an institution, the Bank will want to be a partner," added Zoellick.

On his five-day tour to India, he visited several places and held meetings with economists and think-tanks. He also met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and discussed the role for development of economies of the region and how can the Bank play an active role in it.