Indian American leaders discuss community issues and perspectives on how it can be involved in the city
Indian American community leaders have raised issues of the Indian community and perspectives on how the community can be involved in New York City with Mayor Eric Adams and his top officials.
Officials of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) along with other Indian community organizations raised community issues at a meeting with city officials at New York City Hall on March 1.
City Hall was represented by Mayor Adams’ Chief Advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin and Indian American Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi. The Indian community delegation was headed by GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham;
After the meeting with city officials, the delegation interacted with Adams, who gave high marks for the community’s contribution to making New York an exciting city to live in, according to a GOPIO press release.
Read: India, GOPIO seek action against defacers of Mahatma Gandhi statue (February 9, 2022)
At the outset, GOPIO Chairman Dr. Abraham thanked Adams for appointing many Indian Americans in high positions in the city administration.
On the issue of defacing of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at the Union Square Park in February, GOPIO requested Adams to increase police presence in the park area as well as to apprehend and punish the culprit.
The delegation also raised issues such as discrimination, civil rights violations and violence against religious institutions in New York City.
Lewis-Martin suggested setting up a committee from the community to work closely with New York Police Department on some of these issues.
Girish Patel was nominated to coordinate this effort along with Braj Aggarwal, Lal Motwani, and Beena Kothari. This committee will reach out to the larger Indian community on these issues.
One major part of the discussion was on how to bring businesses to New York City, vis-Ã -vis New York businesses setting up business in India.
The delegation told city officials that many Indian companies are setting up business outfit in the US and that Indian Americans in New York City could serve as conduits to reach out to businesses in India.
It was suggested that whenever trade and business delegations come to New York, City’s International Affairs Department must reach out and hold meetings with them.
Another Business Promotion Committee headed by Dr. Abraham was nominated along with Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, Sudhir Vaishnav, Mukund Mehta, Ketan Shah and Karthikeya Parashar.
Read: GOPIO raises $5,000 for Building One Community for new immigrants (January 12, 2021)
The community representatives urged the mayor to keep the status quo on gifted and talented classes for elementary classes. The delegation told the city officials that the gifted should always be given the opportunity to advance further in pursuit of knowledge and to achieve their full academic potential.
The delegation also suggested the city officials to continue with Diwali celebration and to hold a special celebration in the City for the 75th Anniversary of India’s Independence to honor the largest democracy in the world.
GOPIO team also included GOPIO-Manhattan Executive VP Prof. Rajasekhar Vangapaty, VP Dr. Vimal Goyle and Treasurer Braj Aggarwal, GOPIO-New York Chapter Hon. Chair Lal Motwani and President Beena Kothari.
Other community representatives were Association of Indians in America (AIA) President Gobind Munjal, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Executive Director Sudhir Vaishnav, Bhakti Center Program Coordinator Kartikeya Parashar, Society of Indian American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA) President Ketan Shah, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir National Coordinator for Public Affairs Girish Patel and Mukund Mehta, President of India Home and Indo-American Senior Citizen Center of New York.