KOA Support to India-based KP Community

I have noticed quite a few appeals for funds coming from India over the years for various reasons, such as meeting medical and educational needs of our brethren back home. This has made me look deep into the KOA financials for the past 31 years starting from the year 1990 until the year 2020 (records for the year 2020 are unaudited as taxes for this year have not been filed yet). I have collected these records from several past KOA administrations and public tax records. Acknowledging what has been done in past serves two purposes: firstly, it provides recognition for the effort of previous KOA administrations, their team of volunteers and donors, and secondly, it helps to use available resources based on the experiences from such previous programs.

Disclaimer

The purpose of this writeup is three-fold: firstly, an appeal to all India-based KPs (Kashmiri Pandits) and their associations to look deeper into their own pockets and start donating generously just as their US-based brethren have done through the years; secondly, KOA’s support of various programs to assist our brethren with educational and medical needs over the years; and thirdly, to highlight KOA’s cooperation with India-based organizations. The facts and figures produced are public records because KOA is a non-profit association that is required to file taxes once every year with IRS. As per KOA’s status as a non-profit, charitable organization, these donations were only for the upliftment of the community, and not for any political reasons.

The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not represent views of the current KOA administration, or those of any of its predecessors.

Background

The KOA organization has its origins in the early social gatherings of several Kashmiri Pandit families in the Washington D.C., Maryland and Midwest. These families soon came to realize the importance of building a community structure which could include other families too in a bond for mutual preservation and growth. It was not until June 1, 1982 when Article of Incorporation was issued to KOA by the state of Maryland and on September 27, 1983 the organization was exempted from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

As more families and members joined the founding group, the organization evolved to become a national outfit with regional chapters, documented By Laws, systems, and procedures as well as a non-profit status to better seek donations and pursue community actions.

The KOA’s vision is to serve as the premier Kashmiri Pandit institution with a fundamental purpose that lies in promoting Kashmiri Pandit heritage and its way of living, Kashmiri Brahmanism and its philosophies; and be a center of social learning that caters to the spiritual, cultural, physical, humanitarian and educational needs of the community, for those of us living in the US. The KOA’s initial mission was to promote Kashmiri Pandit ethnic and socio-cultural heritage (language, history, art, etc.), and celebrate religious festivals of importance to Kashmiri Pandits.

This changed in 1989-1990 when our community was forcibly and brutally expelled from our homes and hearths of our ancestral land as a result of intolerance and multiple killings at the hands of well-equipped Pakistan-trained Islamic terrorists. With a history of more than 5000 years, the seventh major exodus of our community members from Kashmir resulted in about 500,000 of them scattered all over India. One a proud community, almost 100% literate community in country where the literacy rate is below 50%, found themselves on roadside in Jammu almost overnight, having left behind 3-4 storey houses and ancestral properties. This exodus was the most tragic, and under-reported human rights violations of peaceful minority community anywhere in the world, with all the political parties in India paying lip service to our sufferings while in opposition and ignoring our plight completely when in Power. To add insult to injury, these political parties instead of labelling us as ‘internally displaced community’ or ‘refugees in their own country’ they conveniently labelled us as ‘migrants’ to hide their own failures to protect us against the onslaught of Islamic terrorism. It is tragic that even some in our own community members fell for it and continue to use such terms as ‘migrant’ and ‘migration’ in their normal conversations thereby giving credence to GoI’s claim that ours is a ‘migrant’ community, as opposed to an ‘expelled’ community.

KOA wanted to help but did not have in its mission anything written down that could have initiated any such program so as to come to our community’s aid. KOA’s mission was thus changed to provide financial assistance to needy and deserving Kashmiri Pandit individuals, educational institutions, places of worship and shrines, and preserve historical monuments and sites of religious and cultural significance in Kashmir, India. For details, download this document:

KOA History - KOA Over The Years, Third Edition, December 2020

https://koausa.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/KOA-History-2020.pdf

Summary

·        KOA raised $4,971,697 and donated $4,379,001 to various India-bound programs and projects.

·        Money raised for India-bound programs has been in the 40%-60% range of total KOA donations raised. On one occasion, it even crossed 90%. Likewise, the expense for India-based programs has been in the 70%-80% range of the total KOA donations spent.

Coordination with India-based KP associations

Kashmir Pandit Exodus of 1990 brought KP community of United states and Canada together to address the needs of hundreds of thousands of community members who left their homes in Kashmir and took refuge in other parts of India including Jammu. Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA) of USA members took upon themselves to actively pursue fund raising. I was in Houston those days and I had just returned from my visit to Jhiri and Talab Tillo refugee camps. The Houston-based KPs organized a cultural dance and music program to raise money. In the absence of board-approved programs, KOA sought the help of reputed and well-established India-based KP organizations in order to ensure speedy distribution of financial aid and relief to those families in dire need. The funds raised by KOA during 1990 through mid-1990s were given to these associations in India who in-term provided needed assistance to the refugees in Jammu, Udhampur, and Delhi. Some KOA members visited the refugee camps during these years and provided feedback to the KOA office bearers regarding funds utilization. Overall assessment of the feedback was very positive with proper utilization of funds. Once things settled in Jammu, KOA moved from ad-hoc funding to the structured programs. Some of the programs were short term or one time while other programs continue for the last 31 years and counting.

Some of these short-term programs for which assistance was provided through India-based associations in the early 1990s are:

·        Martyrs Families Recognition and Clothing Collection Drive. Pat Fotedar, who organized this effort writes:

“I am happy to report to you that as a result of your efforts and cooperation we were able to ship 235 boxes of clothing weighing a total of 3000 kg….is now in the hands of Kashmiri Samiti. They plan to distribute the clothes in refugee camps in Jammu just as soon as possible….This clothing drive was a tremendous undertaking and could not have been successful without the help of…..Neelam Wali of MA, Vijaya Chowdury of California…., Ramesh Qasba…., Hiralal Nakhasi and Lalit Wanchoo…, Bal and Sarita Kaul…..all Chapter Presidents…..National Federation of Indo-American Association….Mr. Janaki Ganju…Mr. A.K. Fotedar and Mr. C.L. Gadoo in India….KOA President Mr. K.L. Kaul… Air India… all of you who donated….

·        Children books, in 1998 KOA collected new and used books from members in the US. These books included comic books, children story books, and school textbooks. These books were sent to Jammu and distributed to various children through KP Sabha Jammu and Shri Bhat Educational Trust Udhampur.

• Rishi Memorial School Udhampur was established in 1993-94 by Shree Bhat Educational Trust at the Battal Ballian Kashmir Pandit Migrant Camp Udhampur with Mr. P. L. Raina (retired IAS officer) as the Chairman. School started with a few refugee children and one teacher. School established itself over 10 to 15 years providing up to eighth grade education to over 200 students (mostly KP children) with more than 10 teachers (mostly KPs). KOA supported the establishment of the school in the beginning and then have been providing support for the operational expenses through 2012-2013 when the migrant camp was dismantled by moving the refugee families to Jagati migrant colonies established by the government.

·        Lead Screening and Iron Deficiency detection testing of KP children were conducted by Dr Bal J Kaul at Jammu refugee camps and Vishwa Bharati College Jammu. Report on the findings based on these tests were submitted to the Indian Government through Indian Embassy Washington DC for follow-up.

·        Purchase of Medical Van for refugees in Jammu and was handed over to Panun Kashmir Foundation. Persuasion of US-based community physicians to visit camps twice a week using the medical van purchased with KOA funds.

·        KOA funded one-week migrant student camps in Jammu for 2003 and 2004 organized by Dhiraj Bakaya, USA. During the week students from the refugee camps were taken to movies, held sporting events, music, discussions, etc.

·        KOA during 2003-2004 provided financial support for the purchase of sporting goods/equipment through Youngs India KP Migrants Higher Secondary School, Muthi 2, Jammu.

·        Supported milk for babies’ program through Panun Kashmir Foundation in Jammu.

• Vocational Training programs in camps: Vocational Training / Education:

·        Women’s Craft Center

·        Computer Training at NIIT

·        Educational Coaching  

• Board Exam fee paid for 50 kids, school fee 50 kids (Youngs India)

·        In 1999 KOA supported few KP orphans in Jammu through Youngs India

·        Bathroom Construction at Jammu Refugee Camp; In 1998 KOA with Youngs India supported construction of 32 bathrooms. Part of the funding for this program was provided by UNICEF.

• Muthi aqua guard at Rs. 25k to save children from jaundice.
• Donations for Kargil war heroes
• FACT mission (Francois Gautier)
• Gujarat Earthquake
• Sein Kashir cultural show in Jammu with Krishan Langoo
• Harmukh, Seminar for all KP organization heads
• Wedding assistance

·        Aman Kachroo’s Fund established

• Kashmir Heritage program launched, and Vijay Dhar appointed the program director. Temple reconstruction

KOA Donations

KOA donation come under the following categories:

1.   Donations for Short-term programs through India-based Associations

In absence of KOA Board-approved programs, KOA raised $117.7K and sent $116.7K to India-based KP associations between 1990-1996 as shown in Table 1:

Table 1: Donations for Short-term Projects

India-based KP Organization	Revenue	Expense
All India Kashmiri Samaj		$10,500
Kashmiri Pandit Sabha, Jammu		$49,000
J & K Sahayata Samiti		$7,000
Kashmiri Samiti, Delhi		$16,500
Panun Kashmir Foundation		$31,037
Kashmiri Samiti, Kathua		$700
Women's Vocational trainning, Jammu		$2,000
Total	$117,716	$116,737

1.   Donations for Long-term KOA Board-approved Programs

In mid 1990s, KOA modified its mission and such programs as Medical fund, Education Assistance Program (EAP) and Support a Child (SAC) program were approved by KOA board. These long-term programs run to this day: for Medical fund, KOA coordinates with India-based KMECT, whereas EAP (for college-bound kids to pursue 4-year degree programs) and SAC (for Nursery-12^th grade school kids) are currently coordinated with Jammu-based Sharika Foundation Charitable Trust.

For these board-approved flagship programs, KOA raised $3,182,694 and sent $3,102,028 to support educational and medical needs of our community back home, as shown in Table 2:

Table 2: Donations for Long-term KOA Board-approved Programs

KOA Board-approved Long-term Programs	Revenue	Expense
Medical Assistance Fund	$446,249	$386,213
Educational Assistance (EAP)	$1,571,808	$1,496,715
Sponsor A Child (SAC)	$1,164,636	$1,219,100
Total	$3,182,694	$3,102,028

3.   Miscellaneous Projects

KOA raised $170,087 and donated $184,895 for other projects since 1990 that directly benefitted our brethren back in India for the last 3 decades, as shown in Table 3:

Table 3: Miscellaneous Projects

Projects	Revenue	Expense
Camp Girls Marriage	$2,961	$9,556
Roop Bhawani Fund	$3,300	$3,000
Indian Army Relief Fund (Kargil war)	$4,454	$6,000
Hindu Cultural Ctr, Bangalore	$5,331	$5,306
Shriya Bhat Hospital	$6,790	$5,762
Gujarat Relief	$7,039	$8,700
Milk Supply	$9,452	$11,162
Saima Kaul Trust	$16,200	$16,200
Rishi Memorial Fund	$19,615	$23,000
Kashmiri Welfare Initiative (KWI)	$42,393	$27,439
Vitasta Hospital	$52,552	$63,835
Sharika Foundation Charitable Trust		$4,935
Total	$170,087	$184,895

4.   General Donations

KOA donated $13,198 for various projects from its General Donations fund, as shown in Table 4:

Table 4: General Donations

Projects	Expense
Helpline humanity at Nagrota for library	$200
Child Welfare Society, Jammu	$225
Camp Children Retreat, Jammu	$922
Drinking Water Purifier for Camp Schools etc.,	$1,000
Clothing Drive-Freight	$1,170
Sharda Education Foundation	$1,725
Young India (for Bathhroom Construction)	$3,250
School Fee & Board Exam Fee for children from B.P.L families to Muthi Sc.,  Naveen Public Sc & Mishrawala Sc. + culture	$4,706
Total	$13,198

KOA Donations in 2017 to 2020

KOA raised $4,971,697 and donated $4,379,001 to various India-bound programs and projects, out of which KOA raised $1,266,833 and donated $1,134,571 in the four-year period (years 2017-2020) under Dr. Shakun Malik’s leadership, which is 25.5% and 25.9% of TOTAL money raised and donated for the past 3 decades respectively. See Table 5 for details.

Table 5: KOA Donations in 2017 to 2020

KOA Programs	Total (1990-Present)		2017-2020
	Revenue	Expense	Revenue	Expense
Medical Fund	$446,249	$386,213	$120,344	$59,905
EAP	$1,571,808	$1,496,715	$389,218	$401,002
SAC	$1,164,636	$1,219,100	$385,437	$419,033
Combined Programs (Medical+EAP+SAC)	$3,182,694	$3,097,628	$895,000	$879,940
KOA Donations to India (Combined Programs + India Associations)	$4,971,697	$4,379,001	$1,266,833	$1,134,571

Kudos to Shakun ji, her team of volunteers, and especially the KOA donors who have made it possible.

Table 6 shows the minimum, maximum, and average percentage of total KOA donations raised for all the KOA programs that was raised for India-bound programs and projects (revenue) and sent to India (expense) for the 21-year period from 1990 to 2020. As an example, out of $100 raised for all the KOA programs, on an average of $64 was raised for India-bound programs (anywhere from $35.4 to $90.3), out of which $70.7 was sent to India on an average (anywhere from $38.7 to 89.8%). In certain years, as much as $90.3 out of $100 were raised for, and $89.8 out of $100 were spent on India-bound programs. In other words, it means that only $100-$64=$36 on an average were raised for, and $100-$70.7=$29.3 were spent on the KOA programs for its US-based members that cover for overhead to run the organization, such as printing, scholarships for college-bound kids, etc. In certain years, as little as $100-$90.3=$9.7 out of every $100 were raised for, and as little as $100-$89.8=$10.2 out of every $100 were spent on the organizational activities here in the US.

Table 6: Total KOA Donations for US operations vs. India-based Programs

Total KOA Donations (for US operations vs. India-bound programs)	Min	Max	Totals (average)	2017-2020
Revenue	35.4%	90.3%	64.0%	70.6%
Expense	38.7%	89.8%	70.7%	77.6%

Table 7 shows that on eight occasions money raised for India-bound programs was in the 41%-50% range of total KOA donations raised, and on eight other occasions money raised for India-bound programs was in the 51%-60% range of total KOA donations raised. On one occasion, it even crossed 90%. Likewise, on eight different occasions, the expense for India-based programs was in the 71%-80% range of the total KOA donations spent.

Table 7: Per Cent Contributions for India-based Programs

Per Cent Contribution	Revenue	Expense
<40%	1	1
41%-50%	0	1
51%-60%	8	4
61%-70%	8	5
71%-80%	4	8
81%-90%	4	5
>90%	1	2

The chart shows that KOA donations raised and expensed are clearly on India-bound programs and projects. It is something that the future KOA administrations have to convey to our India-based KP associations when appeals for additional donations are made.

Lending a Helping Hand to Valley-based Kashmiri Pandits

There is a perception out there that KOA has not done enough for the KP families that did not leave Kashmir in 1989-90. One should not express opinions on open forums without knowledge of some basic facts and figures. This perception is unfortunately not based on facts and actual data. Despite severe constraints, KOA has over several years provided some assistance to the Valley-based KPs. For the last thirty years, KOA has actively pursued through various channels in collaboration with others to provide possible help to our brethren in need who stayed in the valley. Our shortcoming in the early years of exodus was that we were given to believe that some of the locals had become extortionists and collected money from these KPs. Any financial help from outside to such families would end up in the hands of such extortionists. So, we had to be very careful how we provide any help to such families. KOA did do whatever was possible under the circumstances.

I agree that whatever we may have done or may do in the future will never be enough. It is time when we need to put more emphasis to our brethren in Kashmir. KP culture has only hope of survival in Kashmir itself. I suggest that, going forward, we put our hands and minds together and help create a road map for KOA’s role in Kashmir.

Despite severe constraints, KOA has over several years provided some assistance to the Valley-based KPs. After Wandhama tragedy, KOA in collaboration with Jammu KP Sabha, provided financial help to the family members of victims. At that point, KOA was advised not to send any money directly to them as the locals would extort that money from them. Some KPs from Jammu went to Srinagar who delivered financial help to them in person. After KOA’s request to Government of India, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee provided financial help to these families.

Some notable projects to assist the valley based KP families are:

·        Donated $16,730 to supported rebuilding of KP houses in Srinagar and provided some supplies in Jammu to those affected by the floods in 2014, as shown in Table 7  (see the chapter on KOA’s Flood Relief Effort).

·        Supported 15 children from the Kashmir valley under KOA’s Sponsor a Child (SAC) program during Dr. Shakun Malik’s tenure as KOA president in 2020.

·        Initiated India-Outreach & Heritage program, raised $15,700 and donated $12,450 in 2010 during Sh. Pradumon Tickoo’s tenure as KOA president with Sh. Vijay Dhar as its program director (later Sh. Rakesh Kaul during my tenure in 2015-16), to provide financial help to the KP businesses in Kashmir and temples rebuilding. Under this program, the following tasks were accomplished:

·        Repair Vicharnag temple, drain the swamp around it and conduct a hawan with support from APMCC. Support some KP families in Verinag and Kulgam (APMCC).

·        Restore Papharan Nag temple and conduct a group mekhal for 9 kids from neighboring villages in Chandragam and Mattan area.

·        Compile a directory of all the KPs who stayed in Kashmir (KPSS).

·        Fund a few small KP small Business owners including a pharmacy with some medical equipment.

·        Resume Gangabal yatra after 40 years, which is still being carried out to this day.

Table 8: Donations for Kashmir Valley-based KPs (not including SAC in 2020)

Projects	Revenue	Expense	Comment
Kashmir Flood Relief	$54,226	$16,730
Kashmir Heritage (2010)	$15,700	$12,450
Kashmir Heritage/India Outreach	$20,279	$50,947	Flood relief money balance transferred to Sharika Trust and Jagati school

NOTE: Flood relief money balance was transferred to Sharika Trust and Jagati school.

KOA Donors

The KOA donors need a special mention. Without their generous contribution, nothing is possible. KOA is indebted to them for supporting the KOA programs. Now, who are these donors? It comes down to calling each and every member almost on a daily basis to seek their financial contribution. It is not more than 200-odd US-based donors that meet the needs of our brethren back-home year after year since our exodus. Every year some drop out and a few new ones join. Over the years, they have inculcated the ‘spirit of giving’. Most of them, if not all, are hard-working individuals supporting their families and making their ends meet. During my two separate tenures as KOA president, as well as three years as the program director, the ‘well-to-do’ members, however, largely stayed away from donating money to KOA. They would rather share their pearls of wisdom with us or attach way too many strings to their donations. They would rather donate to bigger charities where, if recognized for their contributions, it means something to them. KOA is too small a fish to be counted. In my experience of donating to other much bigger and recognized charities, KOA is a lot more ‘transparent’ organization that has ‘zero’ overhead. The KOA officials are all volunteers who are not compensated for their services, monetarily or otherwise. That is necessarily not the case with other organizations. Additionally, we have created an online portal for our India-based educational programs that allows a donor to keep track of the beneficiary he/she supports.

Charity begins at home

This piece is written for those who have very little if any idea as to what extent KOA has over the years helped our community back home, so that it encourages India-based KPs and their associations to do their bit, a lot more than they do. This writeup is not designed to ruffle any feathers, but an opportunity for these associations to look deep inside their own selves. To those of you out there that think I should show ‘humility’, I got this to say, “Focus on the message, and don’t shoot the messenger.” What I have presented so far present is not based on any rhetoric or my ‘personal experience’ as someone incorrectly pointed out, as such comments do nothing but only try to deviate one from the actual message. These are facts and figures presented by actual public data compiled since 1990. Data does not lie, no matter what our perceptions are.

In absence of any board-approved programs, KOA raised money for collaborations with several India-based KP associations and sent money on a regular basis. By the middle of 1990s, KOA recognized the need of the community in need back home, which was and continues to this day - to support Medical needs and Education, as it was their ticket to freedom.

Soon after our exodus in 1990, a couple of years were extremely tough for KP children pursuing education. Jammu was a small city not ready to accommodate the sudden influx of refugees coming from the valley. But nationalist leaders like Bal Thackeray and others flung open doors to their educational institutions and provided reservations for the KPs, at one point 800 or more reservations, for these KPs to pursue professional careers, such as engineering, MBBS, MBA, etc. As soon as they graduated, with India liberalizing economy during PM Narasimha Rao’s tenure and welcoming foreign investment, these new graduates got ample opportunities to apply to. At the end of the decade of 1990s, the West needed a whole lot more engineers to combat ‘Y2K bug’ to fix their old software codes before the year 2000. After the year 2000, the MBAs in the West, especially USA, realized that they could make a whole lot of money for themselves, executives and their stakeholders by laying off American workers and sending manufacturing jobs to China, software jobs to India, Clothing and sporting goods to such countries as Bangladesh, while still keeping America as its consumer market. Imagine the opportunities created for the KPs outside Kashmir post-exodus in comparison to less than 30 engineers, less than 10 doctors, and a few teachers that the valley produced every year. Having said that, despite the economic boom enjoyed by a vast majority of KPs, some still fell through the cracks, especially those who once had vast properties in far-flung areas of Kashmir with very little emphasis on education. They are the ones who are still languishing in refugee camps that need our help.

It is true that the kids being sponsored for educational expenses, especially for SAC program have gone up since 2018 when I took over its program directorship. The increase in number is primarily driven by donations collected from the US-based donors. Obviously, we can sponsor more kids only if we raise enough money. Every year, even before our collaboration with India-based KP associations, the need has always been greater than what KOA raised in the US. The question remains - How many KP kids in dire financial need have been sponsored for educational expenses by India-based KP associations since the middle of 1990s?

It is high time for India-based KPs to come forward, open their wallets just as their US brethren have been doing for the past 25 years and counting, and start contributing to various causes through their own local associations, and these associations in turn need to start raising funds locally, at least match in action and deed what KOA has done year after year.

Also, my humble suggestion to everyone is to channel such appeals through some organization(s), as opposed to making individual appeals. This is important to make sure there is transparency, as donors have increasingly been asking for it to know how and where their donations are spent, and that there is no double dipping. During my tenure as KOA president, I would get some appeals for medical assistance occasionally which I would duly forward to KMECT with whom we have a collaboration, only to find out that that case was already being managed by KMECT.

It is heart-breaking to see many more desperate beneficiaries asking for the financial assistance. All these years KOA has been able to sponsor only 60% to 70% of the deserving cases. Because of the limited resources, KOA has been appealing to all the community members and friends to rise to the occasion, as the need of providing financial help is acute and real. It is our duty to help a fellow KP in need; we owe this to ourselves and to our community. The time to make a difference is now, not tomorrow or a year from now. Needless to say, this is the best way to help our less fortunate brethren back home.

KOA has its own expenses that employ service providers for such services as printing, website development/ hosting /maintenance, same for Programs portal. KOA appreciates every help that it gets from India-based associations. No wonder some India-based KP organizations like to be seen as collaborators. Service providers they are, collaborators they are not. These associations will be collaborators if they raise money locally that is equivalent to the percentage of KP population in comparison to those living in the West. If KOA raises $100, India-based associations must raise at least 8 times more ($800 converted into Rupees) to be equal partners to KOA in helping those in need. As an example, KOA raised about 1.25 million dollars in last 4 years, out of which more than $900K has gone to India-based programs. How much India-based KP associations have paid during this period, with a lot larger pool of KP donors, is anyone's guess. Let us look at the numbers - in 2018, as many as 372 kids were sponsored through KOA’s SAC program, which is one of several KOA board-approved programs; in 2019, we had 429 kids sponsored, and in 2020, KOA sponsored 450 kids. All these kids were sponsored with US-based donations. How many more kids have been sponsored by India-based KP associations during these last 3 years is anyone’s guess.

Time has come for India-based KP Associations to step up to the plate. KOA has been doing this for the past three (3) decades. KOA has been doing this for the past 3 decades. The milk cow can be milked only so much, it will dry out soon. Those of us living in the West do not have dollar trees growing in our backyards. Such perceptions can be deceptive. India in comparison has a larger population of well-to-do KPs, who are as much passionate about helping their own brethren in need as their US-based counterparts.

The overseas KPs have our own needs. With the offshore model adopted by Corporate America, most of the manufacturing and software jobs have over the years gone to China and India respectively. This was done by MBA executives, hired by Corporate America, looking for short-term profits for top executives at the expense of American workers. The ‘filthy rich’ became ‘filthier and richer’ with the American politicians in their pockets, writing laws that benefit the employers, not the employees. Well-paying jobs came hard to come by. Some members, since the pandemic struck, have lost their jobs. Sending a kid to college in this country has become expensive. Medical expenses have skyrocketed.

Since early 1990s, after economic boom that India has seen, Mata Laxmi has been very kind to most of our KPs living in various parts of India. Most of us cannot even afford maid service and clean our own commodes. In India, in comparison, almost every household has maid service that mops floor on a daily basis, cleans dishes, and sometimes cooks food as well. Time for them to give back to society, and for India-based KP associations to raise money locally without always expecting something from the West.

It is definitely KOA’s obligation to support our brethren back home who are in dire need of help, but it is not only KOA’s obligation, but a ‘collective obligation’ of all of us, and that of various KP organizations all over the world, especially India. For them to be counted as the ‘collaborators’ and ‘partners’ of various KOA programs, I urge them to start looking inwards. Before another appeal for funds, I urge these organizations and individuals to look deep into their own pockets and see if they could save some from spending on lavish weddings, building ashrams and bhawans, and performing community hawans.

We would like to utilize this opportunity to appeal to others, especially who have largely preferred to remain on the sidelines, to step on the plate and bring much needed succor to a fellow KP in need and in a state of abject penury. I would like to humbly request India-based KP organizations, about 150 in number in 2016, to come forward and match in action and deeds to what KOA has done over the years for fund-raising efforts in own their backyard instead of looking to West every time. I have raised funds, both as KOA President and now as Sponsor A Child (SAC) program director, by calling each and every donor. This is exactly what we need to do in India.

With a larger base of well-to-do donors in India, we have a huge potential to raise a lot more, definitely more than what KOA donors have contributed over the years, which represent not more than 5% of KP population all over the world. If we can do this much as 5%, I am sure that the rest of 95% can do a whole lot better. KMECT is one such shining example for which donations are raised locally for medical emergencies, and if additional funds are required, KOA helps out. If it can be done for Medical emergencies, it can be done for meeting Educational needs as well.

If you are already a financial donor, we thank you. If you are not a donor yet, please become one. Please do not come up with excuses. Your community needs you. Donate whatever your yatha-shakti allows you. Together we can make a difference in the lives of our less fortunate brethren. I hope and pray that my appeal is taken positively in the interest of the community.