February 6, 2014
By Columnist, Sam Prasad Jillella
WASHINGTON DC: Bakhshish Singh has lived in the US for more than four decades.
Bakhshish Singh – Former President of GNFA ( Photo Credit: Sam Prasad Jillella )
February 6, 2014
By Columnist, Sam Prasad Jillella
WASHINGTON DC: Bakhshish Singh has lived in the US for more than four decades.
Bakhshish Singh – Former President of GNFA ( Photo Credit: Sam Prasad Jillella )
Former president of Guru Nanak Foundation of America (GNFA), a successful businessman, and a registered democrat, Singh lives in Potomac of Montgomery County, in Maryland.
Returning from a three-week long trip of India, Singh told MYDOSTI.COM: “I was overcome with a sense of nostalgia, on visiting my native India.”
A lover of his motherland, a religious and human rights activists, Singh is also an active member of the Metro Washington Inter-Faith Forum. He is concerned about human rights violations on minorities in several parts of India.
Singh has been an active community leader for many years, and has represented the Indian community’s needs and issues at the US Department of State and the Capitol Hill, voicing his concerns.
Inaugural ceremony of the Eye Camp, in Bidar: (Left to Right) Head priest of the Gurdwara; Bakhshish Singh, cutting the ribbon; Balbir Singh, Chairman of the Gurdwara; Dilwara Singh, Manager of the Gurdwara.
Singh, as a community leader, has always mentored Indian youth in the US and India with the belief that individual development enhances community capacity.
He believes that through training and support, we can equip youth with the perception of decision making and allow their views to be expressed and integrated into future development and planning. This, he says, will help youth address issues affecting their communities in a successful manner. This would also strengthen the community's capacity to identify opportunities and address crises in innovative ways.
Singh inaugurated a free eye camp, in Bidar, Karnnataka, on January 10. A total of 500 impoverished men and women, consisting of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs benefited from this eye camp. A team of ophthalmologists, ophthalmic technician, and nurses from the Guru Nanak Hospital of Bidar, and several local volunteers helped in the camp.
The chief organizer of the eye camp was Gurcharan Singh from Montreal, Canada.
The follow up work of the eye camp is arranged, and patients are informed about treatment and care, in the days to come. For whom cataract surgeries and spectacles are required, the organizers have scheduled appointments — all for free.
Hospital staff and volunteers who helped in the eye camp, with (Left to Right—fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively) Dilwara Singh, manager of Bidar Gurdwara; Gurcharan Singh of Canada, chief organizer of the eye camp; Bakhshish Singh of US.
There is a need for public education to help people recognize early conditions leading to eye disease, and the risks incurred if not treated in time.
Singh says: “There is a great need for eye screening and free or affordable eye surgery for impoverished and underprivileged communities in India. We plan to organize eye camps in every state in collaboration with NRI’s and relevant Indian organizations.
Singh attended The Punjabi NRI Convention in Jalandhar on January 11, 2014. More than 50 elected representatives of Punjab origin and hundreds of NRI’s from across the world attended the convention.
Singh is a bit concerned that some good NRI’s have been targeted and scammed by some Indians in the past, and likewise, some innocent Indians looking for financial and educational opportunities abroad, have been scammed by NRIs. Singh says: “this should not happen. The concerned groups—public and private sectors—should help stop these unpleasant happenings.”
Community Special by MYDOSTI.COM
