GOPIO officials meet Chakravorty in New York to initiate Know India Program for PIO youth

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NEW YORK – GOPIO officials and some chapter representatives met with the Consul General of India in New York Sandeep Chakravorty and other consulate officials in New York, on Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

In September, a GOPIO delegation met India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and appealed to launch Know India Program (KIP) during the summer for the second and third generation PIOs in the US who have not visited India.

The ministry in principal accepted this proposal and the Indian Consulate in New York as a follow-up invited a GOPIO delegation to the consulate for discussion to launch Know India Program (KIP) during the summer for PIO youth, said GOPIO, in a press release.

The Indian Consulate officials included some other Consuls too. The GOPIO officials included Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham, Vice President Ram Gadhavi, Secretary Dr. Rajeev Mehta, Chapter Review Committee Chair Dinesh Mittal, GICC Co-Chair Prakash Shah, GOPIO Media Council Chair Nami Kaur and GOPIO Council on Seniors Chair Sudha Acharya.

GOPIO discussed several other issues, including providing assistance to NRIs/PIOs in need and joint programs with the consulate.

The consulate on its part updated activities and services provided for the community. These include joint efforts with the community organizations as well as organized directly by the Consulate such as the India Lecture series.

The GOPIO delegation brought also the following issues to the attention of the consulate: need for social services for the NRI/PIO community in the US; growing need to address the mental health conditions within the Diaspora; PIOs being charged 10 times fees for off campus enrollment in universities; NRI/PIO Seniors experiencing hunger, loneliness and depression; and limited Consulate resources to attend NRI/PIO events, including Independence Day.

“The biggest outcome of this meeting was the plan to launch Govt. of India’s Know Indian Program (KIP) for the 3rd and above generation US PIOs of age 18-30 who have not visited India before. More details of the selection process will come later,” said GOPIO< in a statement.