August 02, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 29, 1429

DHAKA: The India’s ruling Congress party leader and a member of Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, arrived in Dhaka on a five-day private visit to see a number of successful rural developments projects in Bangladesh, officials in Dhaka said.

Rahul, the son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and slain ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, arrived at the Zia International Airport in Dhaka in the afternoon amid tight security.

A 10-member Indian security team, which arrived earlier, would provide security to Rahul, who enjoys the highest security coverage in Indian system.

During his stay in Dhaka, the young congress leader will visit a number of development programmes undertaken by Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC). The congress leader will visit BRAC programmes on Sunday while the Grameen Bank’s projects on Monday and Tuesday.

In Kapasia of Gazipur district, Rahul is scheduled to see the activities of the BRAC programmes that include micro-finance activities, pre-primary and primary schools, human rights and legal education training, neonatal care centre, community library at Lahri, Tarugaon and Rawnath villages in Kapashia and Dhirasram village in Rajendrapur. He will also visit a BRAC run teachers’ training centre at Ashkona in Dhaka on Saturday.

On Sunday, he is expected to visit Grameen Bank Singair Branch in Manikganj district near Dhaka. The head of the Grameen Bank Mohammad Yunus will accompany him in Singair where he will see micro-credit activities, have discussion with the borrowers, pre-school activities, health care centre, data-information centre and solar energy project run by the Grameen. Rahul will visit the Grameen Bank headquarters. Rahul is scheduled to leave on Tuesday.