If one of the objectives has been to force-teach applicants to learn about India and the struggle and contributions of Indian community in USA, why have the scholarships been limited to Indians only. Why has it not been opened to all students who would learn about India and Indian community history in USA?

The awards are not need based, so a criterion has been developed to select the top Indian American students for the awards. In addition to grading applicants for academic achievements, we also included a test for applicants’ knowledge about India and Indian Americans for which material is supplied in advance. 

Indians have been in the USA since 1899. They started India Independence movement in 1913, now known as the Gadar Movement, have made many sacrifices, and went through many hardships in the course of settlement in this country. They have also made many contributions to America and played a role in the resurgence of India. So, we have a history as a contributing community and we made it a part of the selection criteria for the awards. We developed material for the applicants who use it to prepare for the test for the award. 

In the beginning, India was uppermost in our minds, hence the scholarships were restricted to students of Indian origin. For various reasons, voices are being raised to allow all high school graduating students to apply. The logic is that we will encourage applicants from other communities to learn about India and Indians’ contributions to America. Also, no one can challenge us that we discriminate against other communities.