Friday, December 23, 2005

Jay Mandal's Questions

I have never met Jay Mandal in person. But his has been the first big city chapter of the ANTA, in Chicago. On December 21, he emailed some of us a whole batch of questions.

My interaction with the Pahadis in the Nepali diaspora has brought me face to face again with how fundamental this issue is to my identity. My Madhesi identity is a huge part of who I am, and that is to be a lifetime reality. The Madhesi-Pahadi dynamic also speaks to me at other levels. Race is the number one reality in my life. My thoughts on politics, business and technology emanate from that. The Madhesi dynamic helps me think through the race dynamic. That is also why I like to learn of gender issues. They help me better understand issues in race.

It is not like there is a group called Pahadis, and there is another group called Madhesis, and the Pahadis dislike the Madhesis. It is more like there is something called the Madhesi identity, and both Pahadis and Madhesis dislike that identity. How else to explain the self-hate among the Madhesis?

I think that also applies to issues in race and gender.

The only other group that are like Madhesis I know of are women on the planet. They have the numbers, but they don't have the power. And I think it is harder for women to make progress because men are so interwoven into all aspects of their lives.

ANTA is not militant enough, not political enough for me. That is why I have so far refused to hold any official title within it.

Coming to Jay's questions.

Hello Binay and Ritesh,

Congratulation to NY Chapter whole team on doing a great job. Please let me know if you need anything from me.

I am currently working on plans to develop the process and ways of the support from ANTA can do to all the chapters.

Please let me Newyork's Chapter ideas and views and plan about creating methodological process to build the system of chapter creation and support for the Chapters. The whole ideas is to create the system sothat people can run the chapter and ANTA can support the chapter in a such a way that it will function smoothly.

I would appreciate if you could give some input from the New York Team like following questions.

1) How many chapters we want to open in AMERICA?
2) How many positions we want to create on the local chapter?
3) How many members will need to form a Chapter?
4) How are we going to divide the logistically all the chapters sothat member can be served well?
5) What kind of activities want to do in local chapter to be in touch?
6) How are we going to put the all the chapters links to ANTA web site sothat people can all the information?
7) As we know our member from Terai community are very, how are we going to contact with the new comers and how we can add value to them so that they also can be part of the network?
8) How many people will be in the local chapater level executive committee? etc....

These questions are just some thoughts. ANTA is still a toddler. We need to build the organisational in a such a way that it has a system and it will run for the coming future without much problems.

It is a just like say that Wall mart is opening store in certain to location to serve the customers in that particular area. We got to figure out regional wise how are going to serve madhesi in that area.

I believe that Chapters main role will be to facilitates the ANTA's purpose and goals and serve the members in that area through it chapters. Motto will something like ANTA.. "ACT and SERVE Locally..be nationally in North America" These are also some ideas I am throwing you guys,

Thanks again for doing great job. At this stage I am trying to gather every one's view. After getting every body's ideas.. I will compile everyone ideas and forward to all for discussion to executive committee. After that according to our set criteria we will open all other chapters in different part of the country.

I look forward to here from you.

br

Jay M 1

I think we should make use of our website, Terai.org. That is our office, our only office. For a group as geographically dispersed as we are, that is it. And it should also grow to become a resource site for the Madhesis back in Nepal.

We want to open as many chapters all over the US as possible. It does not have to be just in the big cities. If there are two Madhesis in some small little town, they should launch a chapter.

It is for each chapter to decide how many officers they will have. Some might have just the president, some might have president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, some might have more. The process should be decentralized. ANTA is not a top-bottom organization, it is bottom-up.

If a local chapter meets once every two months for tea, that is good enough. It is for each chapter to decide how much more they want to do.

The website should have an inside zone for members.

Next step: lay a strong claim to the Desi identity. Personally I hope to build a strong, pan American Desi Caucus. But that ties in with Dean 2008 for me.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Madhesi-Pahadi Disparity In NYC


Sunday evening there was a Madhesi get together at Dr. Binod Shah's place. It is up north, outside the city boundaries, so I refer to it as Upstate. It can be called a Janakpur get together. Everyone was from the greater Janakpur region. Including his family members about 10 people were in attendance. Binodji is like the Bhishma Pitamah of the Madhesis in town. This was my first time at his place, first time seeing his wife and two children. His wife is from Darbhanga where I was born.

I drove a group from Brooklyn up there and back. This is the most driving I have done since I have been in the city. There is that feel to getting onto the entry ramp and changing lanes. The semis on the road looked so big. How do people drive such things?

It was a long, flowing, loud conversation. Many people and topics were discussed. There were four doctors in the room, two engineers, and one Other, me. Two of the doctors were new arrivals. They were going through their round of job interviews.

One topic that really got me was the numbers game and how it plays out for Madhesis. Being a Madhesi in the Nepali community in the city can feel like being in the army or the police in Nepal: there are few and far between.

Half the people in Nepal are Madhesi. But hardly 1% of the Nepali population in NYC is Madhesi, "and I know all of them," as Dr. Binod likes to say. Coming to America/NYC is a socioeconomic achievement. It is like getting a government job in Nepal. What accounts for that disparity? This discussion is important because it is important for the Madhesis in America to feel they really are not that better off than the Madhesis in Nepal, politically speaking. The numbers game disparity is still there.

How do people come to America? Student visas, DV lottery, business visas, cultural exchange visas, as athletes, to attend conferences. The student visa thing has been mostly a Kathmandu thing. And that tends to be a Pahadi thing. Few Madhesis attend the top Kathmandu schools, and those few pay a heavy emotional price. Pahadis have a near total domination of the cultural, athletic, journalistic realms. They are the big Kathmandu business types. Even with the Diversity Visa lottery thing, you have to have personal contacts in the US before you can cash a lottery you might have won. And that heavily favors the Pahadis.

Dr. Binay Shah, president of the NYC chapter of ANTA, mentioned there are 50 Madhesis he knows of in Nepal who have won DV lotteries but are lingering back because they so far do not have local sponsors in the US. Perhaps that is a project right there for ANTA. Maybe set up a two room lodge in Jackson Heights. Keep a revolving door. People stay while getting set up, and then they make back payments once they stand ground.

Last night I also met up with Ritesh Chaudhary, vice president of the NYC ANTA, and Divita Mehta, the militant Madhesi on Wall Street. Divita looked the happiest in months. She is quick on her feet. She was in the middle of making some suave moves at work. She bought me a Malaysian dinner, and the to-go part also came my way. When she talks of Madhesi issues, there is this freshness she provides because she has been in the US since when she was 13. She is not one of those Madhesis who have been numbed down because they saw it all so often, it all became part of the backdrop. Besides, she is more a New Yorker than a Madhesi, I think. But then, those are not two separate identities. That is the beauty of this city.

Ritesh made this analogy during our walk to the meeting place, a Chinatown Malaysian restaurant, that the hurdle in front of the Madhesis is this mountain of snow. Got to raise the temperature, and the snow will simply melt away. As in most of the work cut out for the Madhesis truly is among the Madhesis. Got to build the pride, got to fight the self-hate, got to unite, got to raise voice. We have got to talk up our experiences as Madhesis. There is no escaping the Madhesi identity, so you might as well wear it with pride. And why postpone the political work? You just end up giving homework to the next generation. That would be lazy.

The get-together was on the first day of the local transit strike. I saw so many people walking. The rest of NYC is catching up with me. My internet access has also been down the past few days. It has felt like the first few days of rehab.

The day before I also revised my Proposed Constitution with the idea that democracy does not automatically lead to social justice.
  1. The Pratinidhi Sabha will have reserved seats for the four groups, Dalit, Madhesi, Janajati and Mahila, 10%, 20%, 10%, and 25% with some overlaps. So the half of the seats for women will cut across that of these four groups as well. For example, of the 10% seats for Dalits, 25% of them will have to be women. And the 10% for Dalits will be half in the Terai, but that is not to cut into the Madhesi reserved seats. 10, 20, 15 and 25 are half the supposed shares of the populations of these groups, to be revised each census. The reservation for a group is discontinued once its share in the Pratinidhi Sabha hits 80% of its share in the national population. When identifying the seats for the Dalit, Madhesi and Janajati, the Election Commission will seek constituencies where the groups have their largest share of populations. No three contiguous seats may be reserved seats.
  2. Other than the specified groups, the Muslims will get 2%. The Newars will get one seat in the Kathmandu valley.
The conversation is on.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Poor ANTA Website


It is pretty, but it is not interactive. And that is greatly impeding a rapid expansion of the organization. Some suggestions.
  • Himanshu Shekhar of MoneyToNepal.com is super busy as a person, if not people like him could get together and whip up a site like that of SEBS. Or we could just make those features available some other, better ways, simply by signing up for web services that are already available for free and take a few minutes to sign up for.
  • We should accept payments over PayPal for membership.
  • We should encourage members to sign up at Friedster and link to each other.
  • We should adopt the Progressive Nepal Google group as our discussion board. SEBS has its General Forum.
  • Upload Terai photos at Flickr.
These are just some ideas. If you would like to add to them, please do so in the comments section.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

ANTA Expansion Hurdles

Ratan Jha and I discussed the three issues I raised. We had a long phone conversation. I thank him for his time: he is a family man. (Time To Reorganize The ANTA Perhaps)

And he told me about his visit to Nepal, about his interaction with Upendra Mahato ("I am not rich, I am very rich.") and his meetings with Hridayesh Tripathy, Bharat Bimal Yadav, Girija Koirala, Madhav Nepal and others.
  1. Mental slavery. This is truly the number one issue. Some of the Madhesis are more Pahadi than the Pahadis. Some of the fiercest critics of the Sadbhavana are Madhesi, not that ANTA is a Sadbhavana thing, it is a social, cultural outfit. It is about creating a social network, once in a while getting together for some nasta pani. Education and wealth do not seem to cure the Madhesis of the mental slavery. It is a political disease and asks for political cures. ANTA should have been expanding like a forest fire, over email and the phone. But the expansion has been quite slow. This is a problem. Madhesis have been refusing to come out of the closet. They carry the mental inertia from Nepal.
  2. The caste equation. Madhesis who are raising this issue fall in category (1). This is a grassroots thing. Form your city chapters. And then during the convention in summer, there will be elections. Aspiring Madhesis from all caste backgrounds are welcome to contest for the central leadership posts. Heck, if there are people from divergent castes really eager to hold central leadership positions now, they should go public with that desire. Maybe space can be created for them now. But if you are not aspiring like that, and only sitting back and complaining, you are only exhibiting your mental slavery, and contributing to Madhesi disunity. There are several Madhesis who put in a lot of work into the Pahadi organizations in the US, and at the end of the day go unrecognized. It is almost like you are invisible to the Pahadis in those organizations. Get out of that zone of disrespect. Dissociate if you have to. Make some noise. ANTA is the vehicle to make some noise productively.
  3. The ANTA has been registered as a non-profit, a non-political organization. The organization can not give out political funds. But individual members of the ANTA are more than eager to contribute to the democracy movement in Nepal is all ways they can, not just with money.
The fourth reason might be Madhesis are few and far between. 50% of the Nepalis are Madhesi, but Madhesis are less than 5% of the police department in the country. Similary I think less than 5% of the Nepalis in the US are Madhesi. And most Madhesis define their social realities through their immediate Pahadi circles, in most cases compromising by suppressing their Madhesi identity. Because, let's face it, these Pahadis, when they create their mini Nepals in the US also try to recreate their anti-Terai prejudices in many cases. As long as you are not assertive, and ignore an occasional "m" word, and ignore getting ignored, looks like things are okay, but they are not. Putting up with it is highly unnecessary. Respect yourself, speak up.

You don't assert your Madhesi identity as a favor to other Madhesis, or as a favor to ANTA, or as a favor to the Madhesis back in Nepal. You do it for your self-esteem, for your own emotional health. You are a Madhesi if you are a Madhesi, sorry but there seems to be no way out.

Me, I am hard core Sadbhavana. I am a no democracy without federalism person. But that's me.

ANTA is a social, cultural organization. It is about social networking. I encourage all Madhesis in the US to become part of it and set up chapters in all US cities. In all states. Often all it takes is you set up mailing lists, and help the central leaders compile a large mailing list of all Madhesis you know. And once in a while you get together for refreshments. That is all, piece of cake.



Dear Paramendraji:
Thanks for your comments about re-organization of ANTA. Let me answer some of your comments:
1. When we started ANTA, we didn't think along "caste-line". We approached people from Terai whom we met at different Nepali Conventions. Like, Jay and Naveen at ANA, Denver; Mukesh and Parmod Kanth at ANMA, Columbus. Jay later proposed Mrs. Deo's name whom he had met at NASeA, Atlanta. These people also have played some sort of leadership role in existing Nepali organizations. Given the challenge with forming a Regional organization - that too in the background of your Comment No. 1, I thought people with such backgrounds would be conducive to start with.
Personally, I didn't know for sure which caste Pramodji or Mukeshji or Annapurna ji were. If we differentiate people based on caste, we won't be any different from the "Pahadis", and what they're doing to us. We need active and dedicated volunteers/leaders who can galvanize Madhesi mass under one umbrella - ANTA. In the interest of an unified and dignified Teraian community in North America, I sincerely urge all of you not to bring the trivial issue of "upper caste/lower caste". We are already a minority here in America - we don't want any further division in ourselves. Please.
2. So far as ANTA supporting the democratic cause is concerned, we are already doing that through NAC (Nepalese Americas Council) - which is a Coordinating Body for some 24 Nepali organizations in North America - ANTA being the newest member of NAC. I think it is more effective approach than going solo. On behalf of ANTA, I just endorsed a petition by NAC president condemning recent attack on Kantipur FM.
ANTA, being a non-profit and non-political organization, can not get involved with directly contributing moniest to the 7-parties in Nepal. As you may know, only PAC (Political Action Committees) can raise money for political activities. Personally, I am always ready to support this kind of movement.
I'll call you to discuss further.
With warm regards,
Ratan Jha
President - ANTA.



Paramendra Ji,
We all admire your hard work and we are very proud of you. With respect to Re-Org. of ANTA we do need to bring people from all walk of life from Terai. I totally agree at the same time I also agree with the Ratan that we should not do anything which can divide limited people from Terai here in North-America.
We have been approaching several people to join ANTA executive committee. Hopefully, very soon we will be expanding and workign together.
All of us are very committed to work with everyone to advance the agenda and mission of ANTA. In my opinion despite of his busy schedule Ratan is giving lot of time to ANTA. I am personally, very grateful to him for his great leadership. Within eight months of its inception Ratan has took ANTA to the national and International level. I saw him personally how much time he spend in Nepal to talk about ANTA. We cannot have a great leader like him who has real passion to do something for people of Terai. Therefore, I personally request all of you to support Ratan.
I really admire your support to us and assure that we will work with you very closely to achieve our goal.
Once again thanks so much for everything you are doing for Teari in particular and Nepal in general.
With Best Regards to all of you,
Mukesh Singh

Time To Reorganize The ANTA Perhaps

I had a rather long conversation with Lalit Jha last night. We talked at length about his trip to Nepal. He described the militarization in the country, the fear and apathy among the people, the remittance economy, the wealth and squalor in Kathmandu, and the NRN conference where Paras was the chief guest and officials talked like the absolute monarchy is here to stay.

One thing that came up was as to why the ANTA has not been expanding faster. Three major thoughts came up:
  1. Madhesis in the US still have the cobweb of mental slavery around them. To join ANTA is akin to coming out of the closet.
  2. The central leadership are overwhelmingly high caste. That has turned a lot of people off. Last names of the central leaders are: Jha, Singh, Mandal, Kantha, Dutta, Deo, and Jha.
  3. The ANTA so far has remained neutral on the democracy movement in Nepal. That has to change, because if it does not, I myself am going to distance myself from the organization.
I think these issues have to be tackled. The first step has to be to reorganize the central leadership along a 30-70 formula, as in not more than 30% should be high caste. Then the ANTA has to commit itself to the democratic cause. And a massive membership drive has to be carried about. Then we can tackle (1).

Saturday, September 17, 2005

ANTA NYC Chapter

My official affiliation with the ANTA is to be as a Life Member. I do not intend to hold any other official title in the organization, primarily due to time constraints. But also because of my propensity for something more politically hard core. And for that I have the DFNYC. That is also why I have not formally joined some of the Nepali organizations in town that I have interacted with regularly.

But we do need to launch a NYC chapter for the organization. I request Satyaji, Binodji, or someone like them preside over the efforts. I hope to actively participate.

And I urge the ANTA to get more intimately involved with the ongoing movement for democracy in Nepal. Now is the time. The situation is fluid. The first step is a Constituent Assembly. And then there has to be a definite push for federalism. Federalism has to be the common minimum program for all Madhesis regardless of party affiliation. Efforts should be on to further expand that platform to incorporate our linguistic and other issues.

ANTA is in a great position to organize a massive fund-raising drive. We should raise money and then reach out to the seven party coalition with a definite emphasis for federalism. As long as they will incorporate federalism into their platform, and as long as they will be willing to keep the book-keeping transparent and online, we would help fund their efforts.

That is what I have to suggest to the ANTA leadership at this point in time.

Life Member Fee For ANTA, ADHRN

Monday, August 08, 2005

Life Member Fee For ANTA, ADHRN

I have pledged to be a Life Member to each of these organizations: ANTA and ADHRN. But so far I have not yet sent the money.

This is what I will do. Both of you folks put PayPal on your front pages so that interested members can send the money that way. Easy and quick. And I will send you the money right away. Plus I will also help you recruit members. At my own pace.

The membership drive is kind of urgent in the case of ADHRN because we need to pump that money into my project of providing logistical support to the movement in Nepal. Money thus raised goes directly to the movement, all book keeping transparent and online in near real time. I only draw the nominal salary if I manage to raise external money from foundations like the National Endowment for Democracy.

So, how about it? Let's do it. It takes about two minutes.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

ANTA Makes Sense On Many Levels


Hearing The Aditya Jha Name For The First Time

I just got off the phone with Ratanji after a rather long conversation, our second. I am so thankful he called.

What transpired during the conversation totally renewed my enthusiasm for the ANTA.

I think ANTA makes a whole lot of sense for all Madhesis in America at many different levels.

First, the pride thing. If you are a Madhesi, being a Madhesi is a big part of you. If you can not find ways to actively take pride in that part of your identity, you hurt yourself at the level of self-esteem. You can not unbecome a Madhesi. Sorry. You are stuck with it. And if you neglect nurturing the same, you are not a complete person in your several personal and professional endeavors.

Second, the service thing. Madhesis in America are fortunate compared to those back in Nepal. If we will not speak up, who will? Our doing little at this end will have magnified impacts back in Nepal.

Third, enlightened leadership. We are not trying to generate Madhesi-Pahadi friction. We just want to elevate the interaction to a higher plane of existence, to a level of equality and mutual respect. A few of my Pahadi friends joined ANTA, and I am so glad they did. The most famous probably is my high school classmate and friend Kiran Sitoula, founder of SEBS NA, and a very active Nepali in the DC area.

Fourth, professional networking. And this is a deal clincher. I have been making the rounds in New York City seeking some venture capitalist types for an idea I have been cultivating for a few years now. I met a few days back a gentleman who is trying to kickstart an incubator in the Hudson Valley, and he expressed interest: the guy picked up Bill Gates at the airport in 1983 in Denver for a conference: "Bill Gates owes me $4. He did not have money to pay the cab."

And now I talk to Ratanji, and he casually mentions Aditya Jha. First time I heard of him, but looks like he is right behind Upendra Mahato in terms of monetary achievements. The guy could end up a potential angel investor, one of those early round people. Why not!

I fired off an email to him right away.

So you see, ANTA makes so much sense.
  1. Success Stories and Business Opportunities
  2. Osellus :: News :: Former Entrepreneurs Invest $2 Million Seed ...
  3. Through Education
  4. Non-Resident Nepali Association
  5. Economy News [The Kathmandu Post (Nepal)]

  6. Nepalforum.com | Forums
  7. Osellus :: News :: SPEM, the Software Process Engineering ...
  8. Software Development Online: Out of control? Try SPEM
  9. ::PeaceJournalism.com - The Peace Media Research Center's e-magazine::
  10. Satyam in e-learning partnership with Canadian firm

  11. 06/19/01 - SUN MICROSYSTEMS TO ACQUIRE ISOPIA, INC.
  12. Java, Solaris, certification, network administration, security ...
  13. Sun Microsystems To Acquire ISOPIA
  14. Sun Microsystems - SunFlash News Report: Sun to Acquire ISOPIA

Monday, May 30, 2005

Pledging To Become Life Member Of ANTA

I am.

Some other issues.

About networking, I wonder if we can use social networking sites and link to each other. Like Friendster. Might be the most efficient way. Plus, it keeps us open-ended.

I think all of us should forward basic info on ANTA to all Madhesis whose email address you might have. It is urgent to form chapters of ANTA all over America. It does not take much. The central committe stays like an umbrella, and people are free to form as many local committees as they might want. One for every major city, for a starter. Spreading word and building organization is as easy as a mailing list.

And I am so very glad Lalit Jha will be using some of the pictures taken by my brother Santosh Bhagat ... "I also viewed some great pictures you have from your village and Janakpur on your website. I was wondering if you would consider giving me permission to use some of them at ANTA forum in Dallas. I'm planningon giving 20 minute presentation on Mission and Objective and other relevant information on ANTA. Some of the picture will be very useful while I will be talking about Terai."

The Nepal Digest published his picture for its Dashain issue, and I thanked Ujjwal Bhattarai for that.

Also ANTA President Ratan Jha: "...I went through each and every picture ..."

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

About Time

I just go this wonderful email from Anand Jha in Bloomington, Indiana, a follow-up to a phone call earlier in the day. Wow, this is great. About time.

Parmendra dai,

Attached is message from Lalit bhaijee who is actively involved in creation of a much needed organization of terains of nepal. My job is to help him spread this news to as many Terains as possible. I thought you would be an excellent start. Please spread this message. I do think we should have a separate organization to meet and organize than the conventional Nepali convention.

We shall talk on phone shortly. I will call you. I am disappointed that India has offered some arms to RNA.

Attached Message:

It was nice talking to you yesterday. As per our discussion I'm sending you some information on Association of Nepalese Teraians in America (ANTA). Please spread the information to as many Teraians as you can. Association like ANTA has been long due in USA. Talk to them and ask them to be members of ANTA. I would also appreciate if you can send me the contact (name, email/phone) of the Teraians you may know in USA. Please feel free to call if you have any comments/suggestions. We are counting on your participation and cooperation.
Take care and do stay in touch! Thanks!
Sincerely,
Lalit Jha

Two Attachments:

April 15, 2005

Fellow Teraian(s) and Friends of Terai:

We are delighted to announce the recent formation of the Association of Nepali Teraian in America (“ANTA”). ANTA was formally registered with the State of Texas on March 30, 2005 as a non-profit organization.

The mission of ANTA is to promote Advancement and Awareness of the Teraian’s Identity, Linguistic and Cultural heritage, and facilitate close ties, Cooperation and Networking among Nepali Teraians in North America.

In addition to the aforementioned primary goal, ANTA’s key objective is also to promote cooperation and strengthen ties with other Nepali Organizations in North America. By cultivating closer relationship with different organization; ANTA will seek to promote harmony, better cooperation and greater unity amongst all people of Nepali origin living in North America. Members of ANTA will be participating in the upcoming ANA 2005 forum, to be held in Dallas from July 1- July 3. At this forum, we plan to present the missions and objectives of ANTA and discuss related issues. We encourage fellow Teraians to make extra efforts to attend the ANA Convention and show up in a large number for the historic ANTA inauguration forum.

We cordially invite all Nepali Teraians living in North America and also all those who would like to participate in our association’s noble mission, to join ANTA. Please show your support to our association by becoming it’s Life Member ($100.00). The other ANTA membership categories and fees are: Family Membership ($25.00), Individual Membership ($20.00) and Student Membership ($15.00).

The ANTA web-site www.terai.org with detail information will be up and running soon. Please make sure to visit our web-site scheduled to be on-line by the end of May.

If you have any question or need additional information, please feel free to contact any of the following Founding Members of the ANTA. We look forward to hearing from you.

Very Truly Yours,

Ratan Jha, President – ratanjha@gmail.com, Houston, TX
Mukesh Sigh, Secretary – mukeshsingh@hotmail.com, Columbus, OH
Jay Mandal - Jpmandal@gmail.com, Chicago, IL
Dr. Pramod Kantha - kanthap@missouri.edu, Columbia, MO
Naveen Dutta - ndutta@avaya.com, Denver, CO
Annapurna Deo- annapurna_deo@hotmail.com, Cary, NC
Lalit Jha, Treasurer - ljha@jeo.com, Wahoo, NE

NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION:

Association of Nepali Teraian in America (ANTA)

MISSION:

The mission of the Association of Nepali Teraian in America (ANTA) is to promote the Advancement of the Teraian's identity, Awareness of Language and Cultural heritage, and facilitate close Ties, Cooperation and Networking among Nepali Teraians in North America.

OBJECTIVES:

Association of Nepali Teraian in America (ANTA) is a non-profit and non-political organization devoted to strengthen close relationship among the people from Terai in North America and committed to work towards enhancement of Teraian's identity and welfare.

The objectives of the Association of Nepali Teraian in America (ANTA) are to:

Promote close cooperation among people from Terai in North America.
Develop network of people from Terai in North America
Provide support to people from Terai in North America in time of need and difficulties.
Promote advancement of the Teraian's identity, awareness and cultural heritage.
Promote harmony, cooperation and strengthen ties with other Nepali organizations in North America.
Help people/organization from Terai in Nepal though monetary funds as well as other means for the social welfare programs.
Provide educational help to the promising Tertian’s students through sponsorship program in Nepal or abroad.
Provide resources and assistance to the Teraian students coming to USA for higher education.
To promote woman’s cause and equality.
Build and develop relationship with local partners and different organization in Nepal and North America for the advancement of Teraian culture and heritage.