Bill Gates accompanies Rahul Gandhi on visit to Amethi

Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates, who is also now one of the world's biggest philanthropists, today accompanied Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on a visit to his parliamentary constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

The visit was kept under wraps and hardly anybody knew about it until Mr Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Mr Gandhi landed at the Fursatganj airstrip, about an hour's drive away from Amethi.

From there, they drove to Bahadurpur village near Jais, where they addressed a meeting organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana, a self-help group of women.

Mr Gates talked about the importance of computer education and promised to help develop Amethi and Rai Bareli, the adjoining constituency represented by Mr Gandhi's mother, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, as an information technology (IT) hub.

They also visited a primary school in Shahgarh, where an eye care and cataract camp had been organised. Mr Gates went around the camp and interacted with those who had come to avail of the facilities there. He and Mr Gandhi also spent some talking to the health workers to gain and understanding of the kind of problems they faced in carrying out their jobs.

Today's visit was akin to the one organised by Mr Gandhi in January last year when he had brought along British Foreign Secretary David Milliband to spend the night in a hut belonging to a poor Dalit family in Simara village of Amethi.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a strong presence in India, funding as it does various programmes in the area of HIV prevention and maternal health.

As a result of today's visit by Mr Gates, the Foundation is expected to enter into a partnership with the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust that runs welfare programmes in the area.

Some weeks ago, Mr Gates' wife, Ms Melinda Gates, had visited some villages in Uttar Pradesh and later met Chief Minister Mayawati, when she pledged about Rs 250 crore for health programmes.

Mr Gates is due to visit Bihar for the first time tomorrow and is likely to announce plans to adopt a backward village in the state. He is also scheduled to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

NNN