India, July 3 -- West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta on Friday said the state's public education system remains a "devastated area" that requires not mere improvement but "fundamental rebuilding."

Addressing the Viksit Bharat Summit - East India Edition, organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Kolkata, Dasgupta said one of the biggest challenges before the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government is to translate West Bengal's immense potential into reality.

"Public education in West Bengal is a devastated area, and it is not a question of improvement but of fundamental rebuilding," the minister said.

"We have set our sights too low. Our inheritance actually was lofty. We have come down many, many ...