NIAASC holds its 32nd Conference and 23rd Annual meeting in New York

Mr. Mukund Mehta the Honoree - Left to right - Secretary Harbachan Singh, BoardMember Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi, Chairman Rajeshwar Prasad, Honoree Munkund Mehta, Padma Mehta, President Gunjan Rastogi, VP Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan.
Center NIAASC Chairman Rajeshwar Prasad, to his Right NIAASC President Gunjan Rastogi and to his left WVV President Suman Munjal and WVV members.
Dr. Swaminathan Giridharan Md FACP FACE, speaker.

QUEENS, NY (TIP): The National Indo-American Association for Senior Citizens(NIAASC) celebrated its 32nd Conference and 23rd Annual meeting on Sunday, November 7th, 2021which was primarily an in-person meeting but was also streamed via zoom for thosewho were unable to attend the physical meeting. The conference was informative and entertaining with vegan breakfast and lunch served.

Theevent was held at theIndia Home in Jamaica, New York; courtesyof Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi,who is the founder of India Home nonprofit organization and a current board member of NIAASC. Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Vice president– NIAASC was the coordinator of the conference and coordinated the event effectively and flawlessly.

The conference started with opening remarks and greetings byNIAASC Chairman and founderMr. Rajeshwar Prasad, and in his speech reflected on the growth of the organization since its inception in 1998. He stated “NIAASC helps Senior Citizens and Senior Associations through information, referral and advocacy services “. Following the Chairman’s speech, Mrs. Gunjan Rastogi, the current president of NIAASC welcomed­­the attendees and echoed the chairman’s message andreaffirmed and reminded everyone that NIAASC is a unique nonprofit organization that provides resourcesfor all the seniors while collaborating with other nonprofit organizationsandthis was well received and acknowledged. The main speaker was Dr. Vikas Malik,a board-certifiedmedical professional in both Child-Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry and his PowerPoint presentation on Mental Health in light of COVID-19 captivated the audience of roughly 70 physical attendees and 30 virtual attendees, who appreciated the information and knowledge that was succinctly explained.Hispresentation was followedby Dr. Swaminathan Giridharan, a Geriatric specialist, who spoke about COVID-19 Vaccination. The conference also focused on physical health and a presentation by   Mrs. Suman Munjal, president of World Vegan Vision, who discussed the health benefits pertaining to a vegan diet. Theoccasion marked NIAASC honoring Mr. Mukund Mehta,President of Indo-American Senior citizen center, a nonprofit organization andthe President of India Home. In introducing Mr. Mukund Mehta, Dr. Vasundhara Kalasapudi informedthe audience about his active involvement as a director with theFederation of Indian American Seniors Associations of North America(FISANA). Mr. Rajeshwar Prasad was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was recognized for his 23 years of admirable and outstanding community outlook and service, creating and nurturing NIAASC and dedicated to all seniors across the USA.

NIAASC’s goal of collaboration with other organizations was evident as the conference was well attended by members of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA). Members included current executive board members and past presidents who made the effort to connect via zoom. NFIA attendees belonged to different states/different time zones and remained present throughout the duration of the program.Also in attendance were members from several other organizations such as World Vegan Vision (WVV) and India Association of Long Island (IALI). Many IALI members attended In-person and on Zoom,including nine past presidents. Other NIAASC Board members that joined via zoom were: Satpal and Satya Malhotra (New York), Baldev Seekri (Florida), Chandrakant Shah(Florida), Santosh Kumar (Chicago), Asha Samant (New Jersey) and Jyotsna Kalavar(Indiana).

Lunch was followed by Diwalicultural programthat was presented by Ms. Jyoti Gupta and her team consisted of severalsingers, Dr. Jag Kalra, Kul Bhooshan Sharma, Gautam Chopra and Raj Dhingra. The group entertained and regaled the audience with lively Bollywood songs. Music program was followed by Diwali Felicitation by Nilima Madan. In her closing remarks, Gunjan Rastogi thankedthe sponsors that supported the entire event financially and also thanked the India Home volunteers who had helped set up the venue while precluding any hiccups.

The vote of thanks was given by Mr. Harbachan Singh, NIAASC Secretary who appreciated the presence of large number of audiences, sponsors, and well-wishers. 

Upon adjournment of the conference, the 23rd general body meeting was conducted by NIAASC president, Gunjan Rastogi, who requested Mr. Rajeshwar Prasad to present the report of nominating committee, since the chairman of the nominating committee Chandrakant Shah, was not able to the report due to some technical issue.Rajeshwar Prasad informed the members that as per NIAASC constitution andbylaws; 1/3rd members retire every year, but based on eligibility criteria, members are eligible to be re-elected for another term of three years that resulted in all the retiring members Gunjan Rastogi, Bhavani Srinivasan, E.M. Stephen, Santosh Kumar, and Rajeshwar Prasad to be elected for three additional years and was approved by the General Body.

For additional information about NIAASC, please emailthe president at gunjan.p.rastogi@gmail.com.

(Press Release issued by Gunjan Rastogi)

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