Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam on Tuesday asked the people of Bihar to maintain their laborious nature and grit to help make the state one of the most advanced and prosperous.

In an emotional speech at a public reception organised by villagers and the state government, the visiting prime minister, speaking in chaste Bhojpuri, said it was like a second homecoming for him and his family on reaching this remote village from where his grandfather Mohit Ramgoolam had gone to Mauritius without any money in his pocket.  

"But with his sheer grit and determination, he overcame all obstacles and proved himself as one of the most successful Indian emigrants in the Island nation," he added.

"Later on, my father Seewoosagur Ramgoolam took up the mantle from him and turned Mauritius a very prosperous and one of the most successful democracies in the world," the prime minister said.

"Since all my ancestors and a large number of people of Mauritius came from Bihar the state is nothing but a second home for me. I know that the people of Bihar continue to be as laborious as before and have settled at a number of places across the world. I am confident that they have all the abilities to convert their own state into one of the most prosperous regions of India," Ramgoolam said.

But what they need at the moment was a little more self confidence which would soon make them as advanced and forward-minded people as those of Mauritius, he added.