Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
By: Deepak Maggu
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More than 130 Indian-Americans have been nominated by US President Joe Biden to important positions in his administration so far, the highest representation from the community that makes up around one percent of the American population.
More than 130 Indian-Americans have been nominated by US President Joe Biden to important positions in his administration so far, the highest representation from the community that makes up around one percent of the American population. In doing so, he has broken the records of his predecessor Donald Trump, who had appointed more than 80 Indian-Americans, and Barack Obama, who had appointed more than 60 Indian-Americans to important positions during his eight years in office. Biden has also fulfilled a promise he made to the community during his presidential campaign.
Biden’s decision has been welcomed by the Indian-American community. Rangaswami, who happens to be founder and head of Indiaspora, a US-based global organization for Indian-origin leaders said, "The Biden administration has now appointed or nominated the largest group to date and needless to say we are proud of our people and their accomplishments for the United States”.
Looking at the high number of Indians in Biden administration, there would be seldom any meeting in the White House without a presence of an Indian-American. Vinay Reddy is his speechwriter, Dr. Ashish Jha is his primary COVID-19 advisor, Sonia Aggarwal is his climate policy advisor, Chiraag Bains is his special assistant for criminal justice, Kiran Ahuja oversees the Office of Personnel Management, Neera Tanden is his senior advisor, and Rahul Gupta is his drug czar. Also, Young Vedant Patel is currently the Department of State's deputy spokesperson, and GarimaVerma is the digital director of first lady Jill Biden’s office. Biden has also nominated several Indian-Americans to key ambassadorial positions. Apart from this, CEOs of major big companies in United States are of Indian origin like Sunder Pichai, Parag Aggarwal, Satya Nadella, Arvind Krishna etc.
With a population of over 4.5 million (approx), Indian Americans are the largest South Asian American group and the second largest Asian American group, behind Chinese Americans. Indians accounts for 1.4% of the country's total population. Indian Americans are also the highest earners among other ethnic groups in the country.
The wealthiest immigrants in the US are of Indian descent. According to AAPI data, Indian-Americans have the highest median household income in the US at $139,000 as compared to average median household income of US nationals that stands at $61,372.
They also rank among the most highly skilled people in the US. 40% of Indian-American holds a professional, PhD, or master's degree. This is five times more than a typical American citizen. Indian-Americans hold twice the number of bachelor degrees than the normal US average. 70% of Indian Americans aged 25 and older have college degrees which is by far the highest rate among the six Asian-American groups studied by the Pew Research.
Although Indians have registered their presence in almost all the big posts in US, but after Kamla Harris became the Vice President, it will be interesting to see when the American President of Indian origin takes oath.
