'Remarkable young woman': Bengaluru postal worker who impressed Bill Gates

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates , who visited India for a week in March, met numerous people in the country. Among them was Kusuma, a post office worker from Bengaluru, who impressed Gates. He has now revealed how Kusuma is making one change at a time. On his LinkedIn profile, Gates wrote, "I met an incredible force for change on my trip to India: Kusuma, a remarkable young woman working wonders at her local postal department."

"India has been a leader in developing digital public infrastructure to accelerate inclusive financial development—enabling branch postmasters, like Kusuma, to use smartphone devices and biometrics to offer banking services to customers across India. She's not just providing integrated financial services; she's delivering hope and financial empowerment to her community," Gates said.

In his LinkedIn post, Gates also shared a link to a video where we get to know about Kusuma's work. The 22-year-old is a Branch Postmaster at the India Postal Department's Huskur Branch in Bengaluru. Kusuma, in the video says, she was born and brought up in the city and gets her strength from her family.

In the video, Kusuma says, "Here in this community, this area, most people come for their pensions. In a month, around 250-300 people come (to the post office)." She says that these people not only come for withdrawal of money, but also assistance in opening savings schemes. Kusuma says that the best part of her job is interacting with people.

In an interview to The Times of India, Kusuma said she did not expect Bill Gates to visit her. "We didn't expect Gates himself to be here, but he did come. He was unassuming and a humble listener," Kusuma told TOI. "It was an out-of-the-world experience for me and my team," she added. Kusuma joined her work in November last year.