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New York, NY
Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) New York Chapter and the Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center hosted a talk and interactive session on “The Right to Good Governance: A Guide for the Young Indians,” by former government of India Secretary Mr. K. Mohandas, IAS. It was held at the newly inaugurated Dr. Thomas Abraham Library at the Kerala Center in a hybrid format with people in attendance and many on Zoom.
Mr. Mohandas served in the Indian Administrative Service from 1974 to 2012. He has worked as District Collector, Kottayam and as Secretary to Kerala Government for several departments including Industries, Education, Finance and Local Government. In the Central Government, he was Secretary, Overseas Indian Affairs, and retired as Shipping Secretary. Recently he was Chairman of the Kerala State Pay Commission.
The talk was based on his new book ‘The Right to Good Governance: A Guide for the Young Indians’ which was released at the event. The program started with a welcome by Kerala Center President Alex Esthappan and GOPIO-New York Chapter President Beena Kothari. GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham introduced Mr. Mohandas, who he said was very familiar with Indian Diaspora issues since he served as the Secretary at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and had conducted a few Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
Mohandas spoke about his book that he had worked on the book for five years straight and then there was some gap, and then completed it late last year.
Mohandas said, “It is just a coincidence that it happens to be published at India’s general election time and indeed many aspects of our governance make India a soft state.”
“It is very sad that our Judiciary is often tempted to trespass into the executive territory; there has been tremendous economic growth, but inequality also worsens with wealth being increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few,” said Mohandas.
“We cannot compare India with any other country; there are many things that make India unique,” added Mohandas.
Mohandas further said that this book is geared to the Indian youth as he believes that India’s best asset is its human capital, especially its youth.
The program was attended by GOPIO International President Lal Motwani. Kerala Center Secretary Raju Thoams gave the vote of thanks.
The book, “The Right to Good Governance: A Guide for the Young Indians Paperback,” is available on Amazon and other online bookstores.
