Bill Gates’ Curiosity Unveiled: Queries Bhubaneswar Slum Dwellers During Visit

Bill Gates engaged in conversations with women who were employed by self-help groups (SHGs) in impoverished areas.

Along with representatives from the state government, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates visited a Bhubaneswar slum on Wednesday and engaged with the locals.

The head of technology paid a visit to the Biju Adarsh Colony in Maa Mangla Basti and asked how the people there were doing. He also spoke with the employees of the women’s self-help groups (SHGs).

Anu Garg, the State Development Commissioner, emphasized the facilities offered to the slum inhabitants, such as electricity, tap water access, sanitary facilities, and land rights. We have demonstrated to him that slum residents are entitled to land, tap water connections, power supplies, and toilets. Garg was cited by the news agency as expressing happiness over the slum area’s transformation into a model colony. The benefactor also inquired about how the welfare programs had affected the slum dwellers’ way of life. “He inquired about our previous living situation and current situation,” a resident of the slum stated.

Later today, Gates also had a meeting with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Gates has other engagements planned during his visit, such as “Mission Shakti” and the “Mukta” program, which provides localized jobs for the urban poor. Gates also spoke to some of the most talented engineers in India at the tech giant’s India Development Center (IDC) in Hyderabad. Sharing Gates’ “optimism over the opportunity for an AI-powered India,” Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director, Microsoft IDC, and CVP, Experiences Devices India, said.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been working with the Odisha government’s Department of Agriculture & Farmer Empowerment and the Department of Fisheries and Animal Resource Department to innovate data-driven decision-making since 2017.