Sanam Arora

Sanam Arora is a self-styled British Indian youth leader creating a unique ecosystem to foster entrepreneurship, leadership and patriotism among Indian diaspora by actively working as President of National Indian Students Union UK (NISU UK) and Chairperson of the newly formed Overseas Youth of India.^[1] Indian and or South-Eastern Asian organisations at most major UK universities are affiliated to NISU UK. Under her leadership, NISU, in a short span of 3 years since its inception, has been able to create awareness about issues surrounding the Indian youth in the UK. By developing a network of young leaders, Sanam, with the assistance of NISU UK, is galvanising the youth to contribute towards the advancement of Indian economy, society and technology and is fostering a relationship between the Indian diaspora and India. She currently holds the position of Co-Chair of Youth Council, The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (Greater London Chapter) working for the interests of students and youth of the Indian Diaspora.^[2] With the belief that entrepreneurship is a key stepping stone to achieving success, Sanam also heads the Youth Affairs wing of the Middlesex Asian Business Association.^[3]

She has represented the British Indian diaspora at various governmental and non-governmental forums including a flagship event organized by the Indian Government – Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2015 where she was one of only 5 speakers selected from the United Kingdom.^[4] At the moment, she is acting as a voice for international students in the UK while lobbying for the re-introduction of post study work visas which includes providing evidence to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on the PSW visa,^[5] and giving oral presentations at Westminster Legal Policy Forum ^[6] and at the UK House of Commons.^[7]

Biography

Sanam Arora was born in India and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 14 when her parents relocated to London. She did her bachelor's education in Operations research from London School of Economics (LSE) and passed as an honorary student in 2013. She has been working at a global asset management house (Standard Life Investments) where she manages the organisation's India related initiatives. During her time at the London School of Economics, she served as CEO of the LSE's Society for the Promotion of Indian Culture and Ethos (SPICE) and hosted the London School of Economics SU India Week in 2012.^[8][9]

She formed the National Indian Students Union UK (NISU UK) in 2013 to provide a voice to students with Indian subcontinental roots studying in UK universities. NISU often takes a lead in promoting and celebrating the Indian cultural diversity with people of all communities in the UK.

Positions

In her various capacities, Sanam Arora plays a key role in furthering the Indo-UK relationship, specifically in the areas of Education, Foreign Institutional Investment and Tourism. Sanam often indulges in journalism, with the aim of connecting Indian diaspora youth with inspirational personalities from the Indian sub-continent.

Apart from being the President of NISU UK,^[1] she is the chairperson of Overseas Youth of India (May 2015 – present), Co-Chairperson, Youth Council, GOPIO Greater London chapter ( November 2014 – present) ^[2] and Head, Youth Affairs, Middlesex Asian Business Association ( November 2014 – present).^[3] She has served as president of the LSE's Student Union India Society from April 2011 to September 2012.^[8]

Controversies

Despite being a British citizen and not even being a student, it is not understood how she is the leader of Indian students in the UK. Her position is not accepted by various Indian student societies across universities in the UK. She has often being targeted for changing her approach towards political parties on basis of them being in power. Her organization NISU is not known for contesting elections and she has been the president since its inception in 2011.^[10]

Awards and achievements

Under Sanam's leadership, NISU UK coordinates with numerous organizations including Rang De while playing a role in eliminating poverty from India,^[7] Paint Our World,^[11] which emotionally empowers children who have experienced trauma, and works with the UKCISA and the Indian High commission to protect Indian students from attending bogus UK colleges.^[12] She also consucted a special campaign called ‘My Vote Matters’ during the 2015 UK Parliamentary Elections, urging the British Indian diaspora to exercise its voting privileges as well as encouraging commonwealth students to vote^[13][14][15]

In recognition of her capacity and proficiency unifying the Indian diaspora while making valuable contributions to India, she has been nominated for the RBS Asian Women of Achievement Awards and the British Indian Awards.^[16] She was also added to the Freshmind's Ones to Watch list of 2013.^[17] Most recently she was honoured by the Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK, Dr Virander Paul, an award for Community Services, awarded by the Bedford Indian organisations.^[18][19]

She acted as the felicitator when NISU UK bestowed its first Honorary Fellowships to two stalwarts of Indian cinema, Mr Javed Akhtar and Mrs Shabana Azmi, for their exceptional services to cinema and society^[20] and NISU additionally awarded the Youth Icon Award to artist Arijit Singh at the London O2 arena.^[21]

See also

References

External links

• www.nisu.org.uk
• NISU on NRI treatment by the High Commission of India – featured on Economic Times