Tri-state community bids farewell to Deputy Consul General of India in New York

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Prominent members of the India-American community and representatives from several organizations came together to host a farewell reception for to the outgoing Deputy Consul General of India in New York, Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra. Mohapatra, who took over as the Deputy Consul General of India in New York in July 2014, is due for his new posting in New Delhi.

The March 21 event was hosted by the Federation of Indian American Associations of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, at Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, New Jersey.

Several speakers recollected their association with Mohapatra and all vouched for his prompt replies and his simplicity. Speakers included News India Times publisher and recipient of the Padma Shri award, Dr. Sudhir Parikh, TV Asia Chairman H.R. Shah, among others. Padma Sri Dr Sudhir Parekh spoke about the open door policy of Dr Mohaptra which changed people’s attitude towards the consulate and its work.

Addressing the audience, Mohapatra said he was overwhelmed with the affection shown by the community. Talking about his time in New York, Mohapatra said the most challenging job for him as the deputy consul general was his assignment to supervise the arrangement of the U.S. visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which gave him an opportunity to overhaul our work at the consulate. Mohapatra said he was determined to help people coming to his office because it was not a very popular place for many to visit in the past.

He said that the Indian community is growing in the United States due to which many challenges also grew. “The best I could do was to make myself available at any given time for those who wished to contact me”, he said.

The event was conducted by Andy Bhatia, president, FIA.