The Queen consort of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima arrived in New Delhi on Monday. The Queen is on a four-day tour and is visiting India in her capacity as UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. She will visit Mumbai followed by New Delhi. The Dutch royal plans to take out time from her work trip and will be visiting the Mumbai Dabbawalas on Wednesday. The meet between Queen Maxima and Dabbawalas is scheduled on May 30 at 1 pm at Andheri station. She will be welcomed in a traditional way by Dabbawala Association President Shantaram Karvande and Dabbawala Trust President Ulhas Mukhe.
The dabbawalas have garnered worldwide attention. From visits by Prince Charles and Richard Branson to employees of Federal Express, the dabbawalas are now a Harvard case study. “The Queen of Netherlands, Queen Maxima will come to meet the Mumbai Dabbawalas in Andheri. We are visited by many people throughout the year and we are proud of it. We welcome the Queen and would be gifting her our traditional icon ‘dabba’,” says Subhash Talekar, Spokesperson of The Dabbawala Association.
During the Day One of the India visit, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands discussed several issues with the UN representatives and also gave a short speech before meeting PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi. ‘Prime Minister Modi and Queen Maxima discussed the various initiatives taken in the last few years by the government of India for enhancing financial inclusion in India, such as Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, and Atal Pension Yojana,’ the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. ‘Queen Maxima appreciated the progress achieved by these initiatives,’ it added.