THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Jaipur, India)
For Immediate ReleaseMarch 23, 2000 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
WITH MEMBERS OF DAIRY COOPERATIVE
Nayla Village, India
11:55 A.M. (L)
THE PRESIDENT: But one thing I think is important to mention, though.You talked about with the dairy cooperatives, how you've now computerizedall your transactions. Well, the computer can be anywhere. And that meansthat all kinds of jobs can now be in small rural villages everywhere in theworld which before could only be in cities. But in order to have them,people have to have a certain level of education and a certain level ofcredit.
And I think that people should think more about what other kinds ofjobs computers make possible, as well as the successful dairy cooperative.
THE INTERPRETER: She feels that, yes, if a greater number of childrenin the village can learn computers, definitely they can get better jobs,but they would have to be provided with greater opportunities there, whichthey would have to struggle for or which the government would have toprovide for.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Since I have been the President of the UnitedStates, I have traveled around the world and met in villages like this inAfrica and Latin America, China and now here in India. And my wife hasdone even more than I have. And we try to invest money in the education ofgirls to make sure that girls and boys both have the same chance to get aneducation. And this year we will finance around the world about 2 millionof the kind of small loans you have been talking about.
But we are looking more and more at trying to make sure that everyvillage has at least one computer hookup like this and you have given me alot of ideas. And I just want to congratulate you for your courage andyour persistence. And I hope my coming here will cause everyone in Indiato know about what you are doing and maybe more women will follow yourlead.
Q My name is Chitra and I wanted to convey to you that, through theWomen's Development Project, we are trying to create awareness among younggirls so that when they grow older and they become women, they do not haveto face many of the problems that we, as children, had to face, especiallyrelated to our bodies, our sexuality and our noneconomic empowerment.
I think it is time to wind up. I will now request Kanta Guswami(phonetic) to give you a smart card, so that you can become a member of thedaily cooperative here. (Laughter and applause.)
* * * * *
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I grew up in a place with many dairy cows. And Iknow what hard work it is. And I will always treasure this. And I willput this up in the White House so that people from all over the world willknow I have come here and I can tell them the story of what you are doing.
