In a rare gesture, the Republican Governor of New Jersey invited a bipartisan group of Indian-Americans to a breakfast meeting at his home Aug. 16.

The group included a lawmaker, physicians, health industry advisers, small-business persons and a representative from a women’s nonprofit.

Some of those attending the meeting told News India Times that Gov. Chris Christie vowed to address their concerns and sought their ideas to increase job opportunities in the state, attract business and make Indian-American appointments to his administration.

“There were just 10 of us and we discussed mainly community issues such as medical malpractice insurance, small-business issues, and the case of Professor Divyendu Sinha’s murder,” said Dr. Sudhir Parikh, publisher of News India Times, who was among the attendees. 

Parikh suggested that since physicians of Indian origin make up about 15 percent of the total number of doctors in the state, they should be given adequate representation on the New Jersey Licensing Board as well as at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the only government-run university in the state.

Malpractice issues have been forcing many physicians to leave the state, particularly obstetricians and gynaecologists, Parikh noted. “He was very receptive to the ideas,” Parikh said about Christie. 

The governor was at the meeting with his team of advisers, including Michele Brown, his appointments counsel.

“It was a very good meeting where the governor reached out to hear about our issues,” Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula told News India Times. The New Jersey lawmaker, a Democrat, suggested that some Indian-American judges be appointed as there were none to date.

“The governor also said he wanted bipartisan support for improving the state’s economy. It was unusual for a Republican governor to be praising a Democrat, but he praised me for my public service,” Chivukula said.

Sridhar Chillara, who has owned several businesses over the years in New Jersey and is an IT consultant for the hotel industry, praised the governor’s eagerness to get the community involved. “He wants our team there to advise him on how to attract business to New Jersey,” Chillara said.

The state needs to support small businesses with credit and economies of scale, he recommended.

 “My interest is to follow up on the governor’s vision. Our next step should be to meet as a group and focus on Indian-owned industries in New Jersey and interact with the different segments - like medical, IT, or hotel owners, shop owners, etc.,” he told News India Times.

Anwar Feroz Siddiqi, who works with Johnson & Johnson, told News India Times it was a “great gesture on the governor’s part to reach out and hear our voices, to give us his commitment, and to say getting closer to Indian-Americans was one of his priorities.”

“I did take away that there was a sincerity and an objectivity, and that he was looking for qualified Indians to fill various posts,” Siddiqi added.

For Arthur ‘Archie’ Kapoor, an IT consultant to hospitals, the meeting was a great opportunity for both sides. “The governor wanted to reach out. This was his first time and he wants to know more and more people.  And he wants to see more Indians appointed. And he wants more jobs to be created in the small and midsize sectors,” Kapoor said.

The governor promised the team he would see that justice was carried out in the case of the deadly assault on Sinha on June 25, and had asked the state attorney general to make sure perpetrators were held accountable.

Maneesha Kelkar, the executive director of Manavi, a support group for victims of domestic violence, told the governor her group has been providing sensitivity training to law enforcement agencies, particularly in areas like Edison and South Brunswick. The governor asked his staff to reach out to her organization, News India Times learnt.