Neera Tandon is among the twenty Indian-Americans to be inducted in President-elect Joe Biden’s team. She will take over as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget which is a post in the White House responsible for managing the administration’s budget. Ms. Tandon is at present serving as the chief executive of the Centre for American Progress. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris herself has Indian roots from her mother’s side.
Thus, like Obama administration President-elect Joe Biden has reposed faith on Indian-Americans, who overwhelmingly vote for the Democrat party. It needs to be recalled that President Obama had appointed Farah Pandith, Rajiv Shah, Azita Raji, Rashad Hussain etc. in his team.
It is the first time in US Presidential history that the serving Administration will have more than twenty Indian-Americans as its members.
It is evident that Biden and his Vice President-elect are likely to form a team of professionals with vast experience in several different fields including in the field of health which has acquired importance following the outbreak of the Corona Virus pandemic. They will take charge following the oath-taking ceremony in January next year.
Dr. Arun Majumdar, an IIT graduate and former director of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, will take over as the in-charge of the Agency Review Team for the Department of Energy.
Dr Celine Gounder is another prominent Indian American in the upcoming cabinet. Originally an epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist, she has been inducted as a leading member of the corona virus taskforce.
Kiran Ahuja, an Indian-American woman, will take charge of the US Office of Personnel Management. A lawyer and an activist, she served as the Chief of Staff to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management from 2015 to 2017.
Dr. Bhavya Lal, a scientist, will help with the transition over NASA in the upcoming US government.
Mala Adiga, who traces her roots to the Udupi district of Karnataka, has been appointed as the policy director for the First Lady-elect Jill Biden. She is a relative of Arvind Adiga, the winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize for the bestseller “The White Tiger”.
Another prominent member is Puneet Talwar, an expert in the field of foreign relations. He served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs in the Obama administration.
So, the conclusion is that President-elect Biden has taken every effort to make sure that the Indian American community is represented in the cabinet of the most powerful country.
