Indian Support Centre celebrates its two years of community service with aplomb

The Indian Support Centre Inc (ISC) completed two years since its incorporation in March 2015, and   organised a fund raising event on June 4, 2017 at the Parramatta Town Hall.

The function was started with traditional lighting of lamp by Hon David Clarke, MLC, Parliamentary Secretary for Justice representing Hon Gladys Berejiklian – the Premier of NSW, Dr Hugh McDermott ”“ Member for Prospect represented Hon Luke Foley, Leader of the Opposition, and Mr Mark Taylor ”“ Member for Seven Hills represented Hon Ray Williams MP and Minister for Multiculturalism and Disability Services.

This was followed by national anthem of Australia and the National Anthem of India. The event was attended by about 300 people. Welcoming the guests Mr Subba Rao Varigonda, President, said, “No one wants problems in life. However, when we come across problems we need someone to share them with, and if they are too difficult to solve, we may even need a shoulder to cry on. In our adopted country, which is Australia our second home, one simply may not know which door to knock at, or to share their problems and possibly seek resolution. The Indian Support Center was established in March 2015 with this clear objective in mind. Today the ISC supports new migrants arriving into Australia from the Indian Sub-continent, people who are long term unemployed, seeking jobs after arrival into Australia, people having family feuds and often ending into domestic violence, accidental deaths on roads with bodies to be flown back home, people having issues with passports and visas for travel to India and other issues”.

The Hon David Clarke, MLC and Parliamentary Secretary for Justice spoke highly of India, and India’s contribution to the world in particular to the Australian economy. He congratulated the Indian Support Center for its excellent work in the community and said,  “it is a tribute to the ISC that it is becoming financially self-sufficient after the initial seed capital grant from the Government of NSW 2015.”

He released the special issue of a souvenir magazine marking ISC’s 2nd Anniversary Fund Raising event. Dr Hugh McDermott also addressed the gathering and Subba Varigonda quoted him on his maiden speech in the NSW Parliament as he represented his seat of Prospect, “We are a melting pot of people from across the planet: Tamils, Assyrians, Italians, Lebanese, Indians, Filipinos, Maltese, Eastern Europeans, Irish and Anglo-Celtic Australians, to name but a few of the successful multicultural mix in Prospect. It is great that we are all Aussies, we are all Australians” which showed how much he recognises and is committed to multicultural Australia.

In his speech Dr Hugh McDermott spoke passionately about ISC’s contribution to the Indian subcontinent community in NSW. In particular he cited the support and assistance given to a Srilankan family when one young boy died while under the custody of NSW Corrective Services in Long Bay jail. After concluding his speech, Dr McDermott inaugurated the release of “the Subcontinent Voice”, a magazine that will truly represent the voice of the migrant community from people across the Indian Subcontinent. Dr Chandrika Subramanian, Editor for the TSV and Lynda Vij, the financial partner for the magazine assisted in the release of the magazine.

Dr McDermott speech was followed by a brief speech by Mr Mark Taylor, Member for Seven Hills. Mr S K Verma, Consul Consular Services, representing the Consul General of India also spoke passionately about the Indian Support Center and its contribution to the Indian migrant community in NSW. He voiced the views of the Consul General and said the Consulate would like to work closely with the Indian Support Center in addressing some of the issues of the Indian migrant community.

Other guests for the evening included Mr Mohit Kumar, President of the Council of Indian Australians, Mr John Kennedy, President of the United Indian Associations, Mr Praful Desai, Ex-President of the Council of Indian Australians, Mr Tony Colaco, President of the Overseas Goan Association, prominent members from the Indian media and other dignitaries.

Earlier the program got off to an excellent start by a display of yoga exercises by the members of the Happy Thoughts group followed by some excellent songs by the well-known singer Ms Shoba Ingleshwar. The Nartan Institute of Performing Arts presented an excellent Bollywood dance performance both by children and senior girls. Entire backstage was orchestrated by Arunesh Seth and Ms Jaspreet Chopra with Dipak Padhiyar who organised young volunteers to set up the hall and the chairs.   Haveli Restaurant at Harris Park provided excellent food for the evening. Dr Sangeeta Garg proposed vote of thanks and expressed sincere thanks to ISC’s Platinum Sponsors ”“ the Subcontinent Voice, Gold Sponsors – the Radhe Group, Bronze Sponsors ”“ the CVFR Group and other sponsors ”“ State Bank of India, Bank of Indian Support Center, RD Cleaning Services, Famous Kitchens, Green and Gold and others, for the evening.

All in all it was a fascinating evening and the 300 strong supporters went away with a strong feeling ”“ “It is time to give back to the community.”

 

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