Harshad Patel and Prakash Biradar were elected to the posts of President and General Secretary of the New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA) at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Hamilton on May 4.
While Mr Patel was the Vice-President of the Association over the past two years, Mr Biradar became the person from South India to occupy the important position in the apex body since its formation in 1926.
Ethnic Affairs Minister Judith Collins, Hamilton Mayor July Hardaker, Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy, Members of Parliament David Bennett, Tim Macindoe, Sue Maroney, Lindsay Tisch, Dr Rajen Prasad and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Indian High Commission First Secretary Mukesh Randev were among the invited guests.
The AGM, which formed a part of the 87th Anuual Conference of NZICA, also elected other officials to its Executive Committee. Among them were Bhikhu Bhana (Vice President) Rupinder Virk (Assistant Secretary) and Manjit Singh (Treasurer).
As well as ‘full members,’ associate members and life members, youth delegates and observers were also present at the two-day event hosted by the Country Section Indian Association.
Members honoured
The AGM conferred Life Membership, considered an honour, to Immediate Past President Paul Singh Bains and Auckland Indian Association Member Puspa Lekinwala for their services to the local branches, NZICA and the wider Indian Community. Pritam Kaur Singh of Pukekohe Indian Association was awarded Merit Certificate for attending 15 annual conferences of NZICA.
Anil Channa (Manukau Indian Association), Anita Narang (Central Districts Indian Association), Davinder Kaur (Country Section Indian Association), Dhirubhai Patel (Auckland Indian Association), Jeram Dullabh (Waikato Indian Association and Krishnalal Praji (Bay of Plenty Indian Association) were honoured with Community Service Awards.
