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Clinton gets glimpses of tradition blending with modernity

Kamla Bora in Jaipur

US President Bill Clinton today observed from close range, the use of modern technology in rural India and had a glimpse of political pluralism at the grassroots level when he visited Nayala, a small village about 18 km from the capital city of Jaipur in Rajasthan.

Clinton sat with elected panchayat representatives, including women, at the Fatehgarh Haveli where a meeting of the village body had been summoned this morning.

Many of the women representatives, wearing colourful Rajasthani attires, lifted their veils for the first time before a stranger to greet President Clinton who drove into the sleepy hamlet with his daughter Chelsea and mother in law Dorothy Rodham from Raj Vilas hotel after an overnight stay.

Elected representatives gave Clinton an account of the development of democratic institutions and women's empowerment in rural India.

They told him about decentralisation of power and rural development under the Panchayati Raj system.

The US President also visited a dairy farm run by a women's co-operative where two women -- Mohini and Kailashi -- exhibited their skills in using computers to test milk fat and maintain accounts.

Clinton later launched the Rajnidhi information kiosk -- a computerised information centre -- connecting Nayala village panchayat with to the World Wide Web

The state government has decided to set up similar information centres in all 9,184 panchayats in Rajasthan.

Clinton arrived in Jaipur last night by a special plane after visiting Taj Mahal in Agra.

Weather suddenly turned pleasant last evening as a light drizzle greeted Clinton and his entourage when they landed at the Sanganer airport an hour ahead of schedule.

After being received by Rajasthan Governor Anshuman Singh and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Clinton was flown to his hotel in a helicopter.

CLINTON VISITS INDIA:The complete coverage

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