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Some of the key Indian Diaspora organizations with a large outreach that are of importance to India include:
The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO)
The GOPIO is a non-partisan global organization engaged in promoting the well-being of People of Indian Origin (PIO), enhancing cooperation and communication between Indians living in different countries. The GOPIO has established the GOPIO.Connect Initiative to help accelerate global NRI / PIO contribution to India’s development and to fulfill its 2020 vision of a developed country.
The five-point goals of the Initiative are to capture and understand key development need areas in India where the NRI / PIO community can help, conduct interactive sessions with NRI / PIO run civil service organizations on India development issues in order to widen awareness, research on key development-related laws and highlight their enforcement issues for NRI / PIO community, execute development projects in India, encourage NRI / PIO community to research key development-related trends in India at academic institutions to facilitate new policy recommendations in various Government Ministries.
American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI)
AAPI is a forum to facilitate and enable Indian American Physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs. It has a vision to promote professional solidarity in the pursuit of excellence in patient care, teaching and research. It has started the SEVAK Project which is a pilot project for access to care for villages in India. It aims for improved Sanitation and Health, Education in Village communities through improved Awareness and Knowledge of Prevention / Management of Diseases and Health Promotion.
The AAPI (Drs Thakor G. Patel, Padmini Balagopal and Ranjita Misra) did a study in four rural villages in India and determined that access to care and preventive care was a huge problem along with a high prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. Four studies in rural Alamarathupatti, Samiyarpatti and Pillayar Natham in the state of Tamil Nadu and another in the village of Karakhadi, in the state of Gujarat showed villagers had marginalized access to health care and that there were no primary health care centres that could manage the chronic diseases. Seventy per cent of the population in India lives in the villages (700 million people) and the importance of educating and delivering healthcare to this large base of India in its resource-poor settings is an urgent and viable issue. Large-scale efforts to improve general awareness about diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, its risk factors, and to promote healthy lifestyles, must be undertaken, the study reported.
Global Young Indian Professionals and Students (GYIPS)
GYIPS is a group aimed to develop a stronger community of young Indian professionals and students around the world, with the aim of furthering their professional development and facilitating their contribution to India’s political, social and economic development. Founded in 2009, it has over 1,000 members worldwide and chapters in several cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, London, Washington DC, New York, Boston and San Francisco. Members come from a very diverse range of professional and academic disciplines such as law, engineering, IT, management, public policy, banking, media, and urban design. Similarly, the range of organizations and academic institutions represented within our organization spans a broad spectrum. Members have studied at universities such as Harvard University, Wharton School, Stanford University, IIT, IIM, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, National University of Singapore, Cambridge University, and London School of Economics. Members work at organizations across all sectors, including the Government of India.
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