National Executive Committee takes oath of office at a virtual ceremony

LONG ISLAND, NY (TIP): Gobind Munjal, the newly elected National President of The Association of Indians in America (AIA), was sworn-in along with his National Executive Committeein an exciting Inauguration ceremony arranged virtually on Sunday February 6,2022.

The occasion was graced by the chief guest Honorable Consul General Randhir Jaiswal, Hon.Congressman Tom Suozzi, and Hon.New York Senator Kevin Thomas.The Inauguration and Oath ceremony was attended by well over one hundredattendeesand their families. This included AIA founding members, board of Trustees, AIA National Past Presidents, AIA current and past chapter Presidents, community leaders, AIA members, friends, and all the media partners.

Bharat Ratna legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was given homage by observing a moment of silence. It was followed by melodious singing of American and Indian National Anthem by Gita Setia. The Chairman Board of Trustees,Dr Samin Sharma initiated the program and spoke briefly about AIA. Chief Guest Hon. Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal. in his opening Remarks, praised AIA for all that it has done for the community during its 55 years of history and commended the organization for sending oxygen concentrators to India in 2021. He also pledged to work with AIA for outreach to the community.

National President Gobind Munjal was sworn-in by Honorable Congressman Tom Suozzi, who also administered the oath to Vice Presidents Uma Swaminathan(NJ), Nilima Madan(NY), Santosh Pandey (IL), Uma Eniasivam (Fl), Secretary Gunjan Rastogi (NY) and Treasurer Dr. Bal Gilja (NY). Honorable NYS Senator Kevin Thomas had the honors for swearing-in the members at large from all the states, namely Anil Sharma (IL),Aridaman Jain (NJ),Ashish Sen (IL),Dr. Bharti Palkhiwala (NJ),Dr Binod K. Verma (NY),Gobind Bhatija (NY), Manoranjan Mishra (IL),Maya Kirpalani (FL), Neelam Modi (NY),OM Dhirgra (IL), Pradeep Tandon (NY), Prem Mehrotra (IL), Rajeev Chaudhary(NY)Ram Khanna (NY), Santosh Khera (NY),Sharmistha Dutta (FL),Shashi Malik (NY),Sujata Seth (NY),Sushma Kotahwala (NY),Usha Bansal (NY).

In his speech, National President Munjal welcomed everyone and shareda glimpse of his vision.

In pursuing the AIA’s moto of “Indian Heritage and American Commitment”, he emphasized that:

“We are here to serve the community needs. As we continue to direct our help to the people in India, our homeland, we should equally remain committed to the community right here in the United States, our adopted homeland. We hope to work towards increasing that commitment.

As the demographic profile of the Indian American Community has changed in past 5 decades since the founding of AIA, so are their needs. We remain committed to understanding the changing requirements of the community, and then will develop Programs to help both – the Youth and the Elderly. NEC pledges support to all the Chapter Presidents and its members, so they all can build and expand on these programs across the nation. This way together, we can make the next two years most productive”.

A plaque was presented to the outgoing National President Dr. Urmilesh Arya for her splendid service and all the contributions to the organization and the community.All AIA leadership extended their good wishes and support. The program concluded with a traditional vote of thanks by the secretary.The program on Zoom was very well planned and executed and was appreciated by all.It was mentioned that as soon as the covid conditions improve,an in-person event will be planned in the near future.

The Association of Indians in America (AIA) is the oldest not-for-profit organization of Asian Indians in America founded on August 20, 1967. It is the grassroots national organization of Asian immigrants in United States. With chapters and membership spread across the United States of America, AIA represents the hopes and aspirations of those immigrants who are united by their common bond of Indian Heritage and American Commitment.