Dr. Vivek Murthy has been appointed US Surgeon General.
Washington:
Less than 100 hours before his historic inauguration, US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated or appointed at least 20 American Indians, including 13 women, to key positions in his administration, a new record in itself. for this small ethnic community that constitutes one percent of the country’s population. Up to 17 of them would be part of the powerful White House complex.
The inauguration on January 20, the 59th in all, in which Biden would be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States is already historic in the making, as for the first time a woman Kamala Harris would be sworn in as the country’s vice president. .
Harris, 56, is also the first African American and Indian origin to be sworn in as Vice President of the United States.
It is also the first time that so many Indian-Americans have been cornered in a presidential administration prior to the inauguration. Biden is still a long way from filling all of his administration positions.
Topping the list is Neera Tanden, who has been nominated as Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated as US Surgeon General.
Vanita Gupta has been nominated as Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice, and on Saturday, Biden nominated a former foreign service official, Uzra Zeya, as Under Secretary of State for Civil Security, Democracy and Human Rights.
“The dedication that the Indian-American community has shown to public service over the years has been greatly recognized since the beginning of this administration! I am particularly pleased that the overwhelming majority are women. Our community has truly reached out to serve the nation, “Indiaspora founder MR Rangaswami told PTI.
Mala Adiga has been appointed Policy Director of the future First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden and Garima Verma would be the Digital Director of the Office of the First Lady, while Sabrina Singh has been appointed her Under Secretary of Press.
For the first time ever, Indian-Americans include two with roots in Kashmir: Aisha Shah, who has been appointed as a Partnership Manager in the White House Office of Digital Strategy, and Sameera Fazili, who would hold the key role of Attached. Director of the National Economic Council of the United States (NEC) in the White House.
The White House National Economic Council also has another American Indian, Bharat Ramamurti, as deputy director.
Gautam Raghavan, who served in the White House in the previous Obama administration, returns to the White House as deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel.
Among Biden’s inner circle is his biggest trust for the year, Vinay Reddy, who has been named director of speech writing.
Young Vedant Patel prepared to take a seat in the White House lower press, behind the meeting room, as the president’s deputy press secretary. He is only the third American Indian to be part of the White House press workshop.
Three Americans of Indian origin have addressed the crucial White House National Security Council, thus leaving a permanent mark on the country’s foreign policy and national security.
This is Tarun Chhabra – Senior Director of Technology and National Security, Sumona Guha, Senior Director for South Asia, Shanthi Kalathil – Coordinator for Democracy and Human Rights.
Sonia Aggarwal has been appointed Senior Advisor for Climate Policy and Innovation in the White House Office of National Climate Policy and Vidur Sharma has been appointed Policy Advisor for Testing for the White House COVID-19 Response Team.
Two Indian-American women have been appointed to the White House Counselor’s Office: Neha Gupta as Associate Counselor and Reema Shah as Associate Counselor.
Also, for the first time in an administration, the White House would have three more South Asians in key positions. Pakistani-American Ali Zaidi as the White House’s Deputy National Climate Adviser; Sri Lankan American Rohini Kosoglu as Vice President’s National Policy Advisor and Bangladesh’s Zayn Siddique: Senior Advisor to the White House Deputy Chief of Staff.
During the campaign, Biden had indicated that he would attract large numbers of American Indians.
“As president, I will also continue to trust the Indian-American diaspora, which holds our two nations together, as I have done throughout my career,” Biden had said in his address to the Indian-American community during a virtual celebration. from India. Independence Day on August 15, 2020.
“My constituents in Delaware, my staff in the Senate, the Obama Biden administration, which had more Indian Americans than any other administration in this country’s history, and this campaign with Native Americans at the top levels, which of course includes the part top of the heap, our dear friend (Kamala Harris) who will be the first Native American Vice President in the history of the United States of America, “Biden said in her video address.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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