By Vasantha Arora, Indo-Asian News Service

Washington, Oct 1 (IANS) A group of Indian Americans, comprising mostly doctors, has floated a new organisation called the Indian American Republican Council (IARC) to work with the Republican Party at the federal, state and local levels.

IARC chairman R. Vijaynagar said the idea was: "To unite Indian American Republicans as all of them are scattered, some of them are Democrats, some Republicans with no real unified objective in mind. We thought it is better to bring the community activists together so that we could have a group moving towards one goal: that is to involve the community in the political process."

Vijaynagar, a thoracic surgeon, said: "It is imperative to promote and communicate the Republican message to the Indian American community nationwide."

The organisation had an inaugural dinner in downtown Washington last week. At the event, Vijaynagar presented a cheque for $25,000 to Congressman Tom Davis, a Republican from Virginia, as part of the council's contribution for the upcoming Congressional races.

The popular Congressman promised to "use the cheque for a very good and needy cause" and said it will help Republican candidates seeking office.

Davis also congratulated Indian Americans for their initiative, drive and commitment in backing the Republican Party. He said the community with its highly acclaimed family values, educational background and entrepreneurial spirit was fast making a name in the corporate as well as the IT world.

It was high time that this kind of group was formed to enable Indian Americans to participate in the political process, particularly to play an active role in the electoral process at the federal and state level, he said.

"Increasing the Republican majority in the House will require significant grassroots support in communities across the country. IARC's efforts will be a crucial element of our success in November," according to Davis.

IARC co-chair Sudhakar Shenoy told the gathering that the Indian American community has steadily grown in numbers to approximately 1.7 million people.

"This community possesses the greatest number of opinion makers in the nation. There are approximately 50,000 doctors of Indian origin all around the country."

Shenoy said approximately 40 percent of the IT jobs in Silicon Valley are performed by Indian Americans, and members of the community are CEOs of several information technology businesses, some small and some large.

He added that about 35 percent of hotels/motels in the U.S. are owned by Indian Americans, and many more own and operate thousands of other small businesses.

Above all, there are thousands of professors and other scholars of Indian origin in educational institutions, from Harvard to MIT to Yale to community colleges.

With such an impressive record, it is only appropriate that Indian Americans became opinion-makers, Shenoy said. This has to be achieved by getting dedicated Republican Indian Americans to staff positions at the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee and internships in congressional/senatorial offices.

Many of the highly qualified Republican Indian Americans could also serve the nation in senior political appointments at the federal level, he said.

"From job creators to influencers on policy, the reach of this small 1.7 million community actually extends to several million Americans," Shenoy said.

But he regretted that despite the successes achieved by this community, Indian Americans were still struggling to become a part of the fibre of the nation.

Speaking of IARC's plans, chairman Vijaynagar said: "We will shortly launch a nationwide membership drive. Our long-term goal will be to prepare young Indian Americans to participate in the political process and to run for office and hopefully in the future, for the U.S. Congress and the Senate in the long run."

Bobby Jindal, assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, congratulated IARC members for coming together for the benefit the community.

He said he was heartened to know the good spadework done by IARC and for establishing contacts not only with the Republican National Committee but also with the congressional and senatorial committees as well as the White House. This will help Indian Americans make their mark on the U.S. political map.