High ranking officials of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of the Govt. of India visited three US cities to get feedback from the community on a 'fact finding mission' on current issues and hardships relating to the surrender certificate requirements, OCI, PIO cards and to learn the grievances of NRIs about the VISA issuance. The delegation was headed by Dr. Ajai Choudhry, Secretary, and included Mr. B.K. Gupta, Additional Secretary and Cherian Thomas, Under Secretary. GOPIO representatives met the delegation members in all three U.S. cities they visited.

The team met the community activists and members from various organizations on May 22^nd in New York, on May 24th in Houston and on May 26 in San Francisco area. The New York meeting was organized the Consul General of India while the meetings were organized by GOPIO in Houston and San Francisco where Consul Generals from both these places also attended.

Photo left: MEA delegation with GOPIO representatives in New York. From L. to R.: Dr. Najma Sultana, Shailesh Naik, Dr. Thomas Abraham, Additional Secretary B.K. Gupta, Secretary Dr. Ajai Choudhry and Sangeeta Ahuja. Photo right:. The delegation at the Indian House in Houston, From L. to R.: Sam Kannappan, Jugal Malani, Ajai Choudhry, Mahesh Shah (in the back ground), B.K.Gupta, Anil Matta

GOPIO representatives who met the delegation included GOPIO Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham, GOPIO-CT President Shailesh Naik and GOPIO Health Council Chair Sangeeta Ahuja in New York; GOPIO-Houston President Mahesh Shah and Immediate Past President Sam Kannappan in Houston; and GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh, Treasurer Haresh Panchal and GOPIO-San Francisco President Jeevan Zutshi in San Francisco. 

The team leader, Mr. Choudhry heard complaints and took notes of input from the attendees. He promised to resolve several issues and streamline the visa process. GOPIO submitted the following memorandum to the delegation on the issues pertaining to surrender of Indian passport and issuance of Indian visa:

Problems relating to issuance of visa to visit India started in the third week of May, 2010. Indian Embassies/High Commissions and consulates started charging $175 USD fee for surrender of old Indian passport and additional penalties for various "violations".  The visas to India were given only after the passport was surrendered and payment of fees and penalties was made.

Those people who had lost their passports or could not locate old passports long after obtaining US citizenship could not obtain visa no matter what emergency they had in India.

After massive petition initiated by GOPIO, the fee of $175 was reduced to $20 for those who had become US naturalized citizens before June 1st, 2010 and penalty fees were also waived. However, after a few months, the penalties were enforced for those who had become US naturalized citizens and citizens of other countries after June 1, 2005. It continues to be major source of unhappiness, frustration and irritation among the Indian community outside of India, in particular the USA, Canada and Europe.

GOPIO supports the GOI policy requirement that surrender certificate should be obtained; but only if the passport is valid. However, GOPIO does not see any justification in surrendering a passport which had expired decades ago.

GOPIO Houston Chapter arranged a community leaders meeting at India House on May 24^th.  Chapter President Mahesh Shah welcomed the gathering. Chad Patel, Vice-President presented community's concerns in a well organized power point presentation. Community leaders one by one spoke for about three minutes about their views on the problems encountered due to visa and surrender certificate issues. Uma Mantravadi intruced the guests. Sam Kannappan, Founder President of GOPIO Houston Chapter presented a memorandum requesting changes in the rules.

Sanjiv Arora, Consul General of India in Houston addressed some of the concerns. Additional Secretary B.K. Spoke very convincingly about the rules by Government of India. Secretary Ajai Choudhary said some of the issues will be taken up soon and others will require longer inter-departmental consultations in New Delhi. Audience expressed satisfaction that their concerns were heard by high ranking officials visiting from New Delhi. Some said they hoped to get resolution very soon.

GOPIO Inyernational submitted a memorandum to the high level delegation offering suggestions based on community input:

1.     All consulates and embassies should implement uniform policies regarding passport surrender and visa issuance and this information should be identical on consular websites. In fact, it is preferable that the Indian embassy website should post the set of policies and fees regarding passport surrender and visa issuance and all consular websites should have link to the embassy website.

2.     Those who became naturalized citizen before 2001 need not obtain surrender certificates since their old passports are no longer valid documents.

3.     Reduce the passport surrender fee of $175 to $20 if the new naturalized citizen surrenders his/her passport within three (3) months from the date of becoming citizen of the adopted country. If not surrendered within three months, charge full fee of $175.

4.     Insert notation on each Indian passport that if the holder becomes citizen of another country, he/she must surrender the passport to the nearest Indian Mission abroad and obtain receipt for surrender.

5.     Eliminate penalty fee being charged currently from those who have become citizens of other countries after January 1, 2005.

6.     An applicant should not be required to send his original US passport with his/her OCI application. Since the OCI application has been taking longer than three months to process, the applicant should send his/her passport on receipt of approval letter of his/her OCI application from the Indian Consulate or High Commissioner's Office.

7.     An applicant who previously had a long term visa should be given short term visa in emergency without completing the lengthy formalities for surrender certificate.

8.     Monthly visa camp in Los Angeles should be started again to reduce the number of people who have to travel to San Francisco for consular services.

9.     Travisa Outsourcing has so far proven to be a failure. It has added another layer of bureaucracy with inefficient and untrained staff. Neither Travisa office nor the Consulate takes responsibility of the status of the VISA applications. Each blames the other for delay at the cost of the applicants. Element of sensitivity is lacking by both agencies. If Travisa has to be retained as the outsourcing agency, their staff should be trained. The staff also needs to change their attitude and behavior in dealing with the applicants. 

Inder Singh, GOPIO International chairman attended the meeting in San Francisco area. He reminded the MEA team, "During the last several years, efforts have been made by government of India to develop goodwill between India and her Diaspora. Organization of annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Mini PBDs, grant of OCI Card and PIO card and establishment of a separate ministry for Overseas Indians are decisions in the right direction and are appreciated by the Diaspora. But the rules of passport surrender are causing undue hardships and delays in obtaining visa for visiting India and consequently alienating NRI/PIO communities all over the world." He urged the MEA team to resolve these issues immediately. 

Photo above: GOPIO officials with MEA delegation in San Jose, California. From left to right: Niraj Baxi; Rajeev Awasty; AshokSinha; Inder Singh; Consul General Sushmita Thomas; Ajai Choudhry; Basant Gupta; Haresh Panchal; Jeevan Zutshi; Ashok Madan; Cherian Thomas and Gursharan Nat.

"In the coming months of June and July, many people will be applying for visa to visit India as the schools are closed in Canada and America during July and August.  Prompt resolution will avoid crisis situation which might develop during the coming months," GOPIO urged to the delegation.

For more info, contact Inder Singh at 818-708-3885, e-mail: gopio-intl@sbcglobal.net.

The Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha (House of Representatives) Mrs. Meira Kumar accompanied by members of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and the Lok Sabha (Lower House) attended a Dinner Reception hosted by Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, GOPIO National Coordinator for USA at the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami.

In his welcoming remarks, Dr. Agrawal emphasized the need for a very balanced and positive relationship between the Indian Diaspora and the Government of India. This relationship, since 1947, has been precarious and needs to be placed on a very solid ground for the benefit of both. 

The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas of 2003 was a great effort by the Government of India to woo the Indian Diaspora.  But, certain recent knee jerk policies of Government of India, such as the issue of "Surrender Certificate" have antagonized the Diaspora unnecessarily

India has the good fortune of having an extremely vibrant Diaspora which always thinks to do something worthwhile for their motherland and the land of their ancestors.  This unsolicited assistance is available to India at no cost.

The exemplary support provided by the Indian Community in USA for the passage of US-India Nuclear Treaty is just one illustration of how deeply the Diaspora loves India. Why does Government of India create irritants like the "Surrender Certificate" to alienate the Diaspora is beyond comprehension.

 This reception in honor of the current Speaker Ms. Meira Kumar is a continuation of Miami's tradition of hosting Indian Speakers such as Dr. Balram Jhaker, Honorable Manohar Joshi, and Honorable Somnath Chatterjee. 

Honorable Sanjiv Arora, Consul General of India in Houston defended the policies of the Indian Government in his sophisticated and diplomatic manner.   The Indian Diaspora in South Florida is convinced of the hard work his Office does to make the public happy.

Photo below left: From Left to Right: Consul General Sanjiv Arora, Speaker Meira Kumar, Sudha Agrawal & Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal; Photo right: GOPIO's National Coordinator Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal honoring Speaker Meira Kumar with a Commemorative Silver Coin minted at the occasion of First Diwali at The White House embedded on the plaque.

Photo above - Speaker Mira Kumar with invitees to the event

Responding to   Dr. Agrawal's comments, Speaker Meira Kumar in her poetic communication also emphasized the need for a good relationship between India and its Diaspora.  She said that the blood relationship is very strong but when the relationship is built through a common mission, it becomes much stronger.  She hoped that the policies followed by India and expectations of the Indian Diaspora would always converge! And thus we hope that this convergence shall produce a strongest relationship between the two.

The event was attended by more than twenty different Indian organizations, local intellectuals, academicians, and business and industry personnel. The Speaker's delegation consisted of about twenty people from the Legislative & Executive branches of India.

EIGHT INDO-CANADIANS ELECTED TO CANADIAN PARLIAMENT - TWO BECOME MINISTERS

Six Indo-Canadians were elected to the Canadian Parliament on the conservative ticket and two others got elected on the New Democratic Party (NDP) ticket. The total tally of Indo-Canadian MPs has reduced from 9 to 8 in these elections. Interestingly all 5 sitting Indo-Canadian MPs from the Literal Party lost and all 4 sitting Indo-Canadian MPs from the Conservative party won.

The winners are Nina Grewal, Tim Uppal, Deepak Obhrai, Devinder Shorey, Parm Gill, Bal Gosal from Conservative and Jasbir Sandhu & Jinny Sims from NDP.

Among prominent Indo-Canadians who lost were former Federal Health Minister and first Indo-Canadian Premier of British Columbia Ujjal Dosanjh, Beauty Queen Ruby Dhalla, Five time winner Gurbax Malhi, Navdeep Bains and Sukh Dhaliwal.

The Conservative party of Canada under the leadership of Stephan Harper has got Majority in Canadian Parliament with 167 seats and NDP forms the official opposition with 102 seats and Liberal party managed only 34 seats. Many Indo-Canadians who were strong supporters of Liberal party supported the ruling Conservative and wanted to give them a Majority Government.

TWO BECOME MINISTERS

Among the ministers appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper are first time MP Bal Gosal and Tim Uppal. Gosal representing the Toronto constituency of Bramalea-Gore-Malton is minister of state for sport. A Sikh from Mukundpur village near Jalandhar, 50-year-old Gosal, who is an insurance broker by profession, had defeated Sikh stalwart and six-time MP Gurbax Malhi. Malhi himself had created history in 1993 by becoming the first Sikh turbaned MP in the western world.

It is the first time that there will be two Indian faces in the Canadian cabinet. Former health minister Ujjal Dosanjh of the Liberal Party was the last Indian face in the Canadian Cabinet from 2004 to 2006.

GOPIO CALENDAR OF MAJOR INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE EVENTS 2011

June 8 - 9, 2011: PBD Canada (Toronto)

October 14 -16, 2011: GOPIO Convention (Toronto)

GOPIO-CT CELEBRATES HONORS FIVE AT SUCCESSFUL AWARDS BANQUET

GOPIO Connecticut honored five for their achievements and contributions to the community - Dr.

Madhu Mathur, Dr. Vijay Prashad, Mrs. Vidya Teredesai, Mr. Paul Semanski and Ms. Mequitta Ahuja.

The elegant gold, pink and orange-themed event which included a cocktail reception, dinner, dance performances by local artists and live music, was attended by over 200 Indian-American community leaders, supporters and public officials - including Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia, Dr. Ajai Gondane, Deputy Consul General from the Indian Consulate in New York, and former Lt. Governor, Michael Fedele. Also attending, were several members of the senior management team of Stamford Hospital, Silver Sponsor of the event.

The award for achievement in arts and letters went to Dr. Vijay Prashad who holds the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History, and is Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT. He has published several books on world governance.

Dr. Madhu Mathur is a tireless advocate for children's health. She is the founding member of Stamford's Childhood ObesityTask Force. In addition, she is Medical Director of the Regional Medical Home Initiative and Chair of the Health and Wellness Committee of Childhood Blueprint Initiative in Stamford.

Mrs. Vidya Teredesai was recognized for her community service here and in India. She has raised funds for homeless shelters, Norwalk Senior Center, Evergreen Foundation as well as Women's Hospital in Baroda.

Friend of India Award went to Mr. Paul Semanski who serves as a Co-Coordinator for Asha Hartford, which organizes several fundraisers each year on behalf of the Navsarjan Trust Schools for disadvantaged girls in Gujarat and the DF Blind School in Kolkata.

The Young Person Awardee was Ms. Mequitta Ahuja, who is a visual artist. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, in Paris, Brussels, Berlin, India and Dubai. In February 2010, she was profiled in ArtNews as "Artist to Watch."

In welcoming the guests and dignitaries, Shailesh Naik, President of GOPIO-CT said "we are celebrating the achievements of five distinguished individuals, who deserve our recognition. We

congratulate them and are proud of their achievements."

Mayor Pavia said "I am honored to be here to celebrate among friends and am thankful for the warm welcome the Indian community has always extended to me and my wife, Maureen." He also congratulated GOPIO-CT for its five years of service and bringing the Indian community together.

Dr. Gondane congratulated the awardees for "bringing honor to your Indian heritage. We are all very proud of you."

Mr. Michael Fedele who attended along with his wife Carol said he was delighted to be at the event to honor the accomplishments of so many talented individuals.

Proclamations from Governor Malloy to the awardees were read out at the awards ceremony. Sarina Jain who was the Mistress of Ceremonies had the crowd on their feet in a group masala bhangra energy workout, prior to dinner of course! Good conversation, great food and rhythmic Bollywood music by DJ Magic Mike - a celebration of the vibrant Indian-American community in Connecticut.

Photo below - GOPIO-CT officials with award recipients and dignitaries Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia, former CT. Lt. Governor Michael Fedele and Deputy Consul General Dr. A.M. Gondane

Photo above - Dancing with Sarina Jain of Masala Bhangra

GOPIO WAIKATO ORGANIZES MUSICAL EVENING IN HAMILTON, NEW ZEALAND

GOPIO-Waikato & INDIANZ fulfilling the value of unity, organized a memorable musical evening on May 22nd in Hamilton., New Zealand. Shaam-E-Awadh Mehfil had a chief guest Dr. Ashraf Chowdhry (M.P.) & Mrs Samina Chowdhry. Many people from Auckland attended the program hled in Hamilton. Many of attendees were originally from Lucknow India (HAMILTONIANS & AUCKLANDERS now) many were from Pakistan & all enjoyed Paan, Shayery & Ghazals, mesmerizing & soulful. Hookah was also ready to taste a puff.

To begin with Ganapati Vandana Mrs. Malathi Vasudevan created lot of   positive energy (Marathi) followed by peace prayer. Mr. B.K. Madan compeered & spearhead --Mini Mushaira-- Brijinder Sagar (Auckland) recited  amazing poems of his own composition. Dr. Anis-ur-Rehman recited Zameer Jafri's ghazal. Dr. Rulia Singh Sidhu sang Sahir's ghazal. Som Nath Gupta (Diwana raikoti) read his own composition. Mr.Santosh Sharma & Baljit Kaur sang Panjabi song. Mr.B.K.Madan recited Shakeel Badauni's kalaam. Mohd. Taqi Mehdi recited Faiz's Ahmed Faiz -'mere man mere musafir' which made many a person in the audience emotional.

Ghazals   From Shobha ji --"voh jo hum mein tum mein quarar tha, tumhe yaad ho ki na yaad ho," with huge round of applause from audience followed and the gathering appreciated her duets with Arun Khotkar "Kaun kehta hai ki mohabbat ki zuban hoti hai." Arunji sang "Kal chowdhwi ki raat thi shabber raha chehra tera" and then by Viraj Maki "hosh walon ko khabar kya, bekhudi kya cheez hai."The accompaniments included Mr. Hemant Thakar (on Keyboard), Mr. Vijay Murthi (on Guitar), Mr. Vivek Anturkar (on Tabla). Ms Davender Sahni served as the master of ceremony.

Photos above:Photo 1 (L.to R.)  Pradeep Kapoor, Suman Kapoor( president GOPIO Waikato, Dr. Ashraf Chowdhry (M.P. labour Party), Mrs. Samina Chowdhry, Mrs. Shobha Pathak (Ghazal queen); Photo 2 - (L.to R.) Mr. Santosh Sharma (Punjabi geet Singer), Mr. Brijinder Singh(composer & poet), Mr. B.K. Madan (great shaayer & urdu poetry), Mr. Somnath Gupta (poet composer); Photo 3 - (L.to R.) Ranjita Malviya, Suman Kapoor, Mrs D. Srivastava, Mrs. Shobha Pathak

"The events success motivated us to have it celebrated  bigger & better as SAALAANA JALSA, as yearly event," said Suman kapoor, President of GOPIO Waikato.  --" To our knowledge the best ever attended by all major faiths in brotherhood of Hamilton & Auckland .It was a unique feature rarely observed in our gatherings. Sikh, Muslim & Hindu had all equally taken part. This concert proved that the amazing poetry can enlighten minds and unite hearts, a powerful binding  factor . Mr. Pradeep   Kapoor was a perfect host with VEGE KING sponsored tasty meal.

Contact: Suman Kapoor, President, GOPIO Waikato, E-mail: sumankapoor2002@yahoo.com.

GOPIO UPPER NEW YORK CELEBRATES ITS 3^RD ANNIVERSARY AND INDIAN ARRIVAL DAY

The Upper New York Chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) celebrated its Third Anniversary, and Indian Arrival Day, with a Grand Dinner and Dance at the World's Fair Marina, Flushing, on Saturday, 7^th May, 2011

The gala event was well attended by more than two hundred members and supporters of GOPIO, and included GOPIO International officials Mr. Ashook Ramsaran and Dr. Thomas Abraham. Both officials brought greetings from the parent Organization, and congratulated the Upper NY Chapter for its many achievements in just three short years. In his remarks, Dr Abraham also challenged the Chapter to develop programs and activities that will attract the participation of our society's next generation, and senior citizens.

The NYC's City Comptroller, Mr. John Liu, was in attendance at the event and extended warm congratulations and best wishes to the GOPIO chapter on its Third Anniversary and for its celebration of Indian Arrival Day. Mr. Liu, an Asian immigrant himself and an acknowledged friend of GOPIO, expressed pride at the development and achievements of Immigrant groups in NYC, and paid tribute to the rich cultural diversity that they add to our great city.

GOPIO Individual Life membership is open to all who believe in the mission of GOPIO. The one- time fee is $5,000 for Platinum Life Membership, $2,500 for Gold Life Membership and $1,500 Silver Life Membership and half the amount for each category for those from developing countries and India.

GOPIO is looking forward to opening chapters in all major cities of the world so as to network people of Indian origin all over the world. If you do not have chapter in your city, please visit GOPIO website (www.gopio.net) and get details of chapter initiation (visit http://www.gopio.net/chapter_initiative.htm). Process involves sending a letter of intent to start a chapter by a committee of five people or more. For more information, contact:

GOPIO Executive Vice President - Ashook Ramsaran, Fresh Meadows, New York City, Tel: 718/939-8194, E-mail: ramsaran@aol.com

To become a Life member of GOPIO, one can sign up online at http://gopio.net/online_membership.htm or fill up the form and send it with a check to: GOPIO International, PO Box 560117, New York NY 11356, USA.

Contributors of this issue: Inder Singh (GOPIO Intl., USA), Dr. Piyush Agrawal (GOPIO-America, Florida, USA), Suman Kapoor (GOPIO-Waikato, New Zealand), Jay Banerjei (GOPIO-Toronto), Shailesh Naik (GOPIO-CT, USA), Satruhan Sukdeo (GOPIO-Upper New York, USA) and Jeevan Zutshi (GOPIO-San Francisco, USA).

GOPIO NEWS welcomes NRI/PIO related stories from all over the world. Be a volunteer correspondent or reporter. Contact Dr. Thomas Abraham, Tel: 203-329-8010, E-mail: gopio@optonline.net.