Dr. Rajendra Gupta, right, with Florida Governor Jeb Bush earlier this year. (Photo: Courtesy, Dr. Gupta)

Dr. Rajendra Gupta, a gastroenterologist from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is among many Indian American physicians who are reaping the benefits of being strong Republican supporters and fund-raisers.

He is also probably going to be named by the governor as a trustee of the Florida Atlantic University after he goes for his interview, Gupta indicated to News India-Times.

Gupta’s 20 years of Republican activism and the fact that he has raised $500,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign, are all coming to bear fruit, as it has for many other politically active Indian Republicans.

For a year now, Gupta has been on the Florida Council for Education Policy, Research and Improvement, appointed by the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He joined Dr. Akshay Desai, who is also on this council that looks at the state’s education from pre-kindergarten to the highest level, including medical schools.

“I raised $500,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign. For last 20 years, I have been raising funds and also doing charity work. I raised $5 million for building Hindu Temple in Fort Lauderdale,” Dr. Gupta said. He has also worked in clinics for the homeless, and has been the regional director for the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. He is also the founding president of Indian Physicians of South Florida, and was president of that body for 10 years from 1980-1990.

“I have been involved with discussing whether we need more medical schools and how to improve the High School dropout rate in Florida. We want to try to improve that situation,” he said. An astronomical 80 percent of Floridians don’t complete graduate school, he said. “Our council is a rare body that looks at the education system of the State to improve it.”

“Retention rates at medical schools is 35 percent. We declined proposals tonew schools but called for more training to improve retention rates,” he said, adding, “By spending less money, we are now keeping more doctors where it is needed, instead ofng more and more medical schools.”

Born in Bharatpur, Rajasthan and brought up there, Gupta did his pre-med in Alwar and went to medical school in Jaipur. He came to the U.S. in 1972, and worked for a year-and-a-half for one of Ohio’s correctional institutes.

He has been practicing in Florida since 1990. His wife, Shobha Gupta, also a physician, is chief of psychiatry at Broward General Medical Center. One of his daughters is following in her mother’s footsteps, and the other is going into dentistry.

On Dec. 15, he is among those invited by President George Bush to the White House Christmas party. And on Dec. 20, he will be enjoying another Christmas party closer to home, in Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s mansion.