Lokvani was pleased to accept an invitation to a lunch meeting with Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey at the Statehouse on Friday June 6.

Billed as the first of many meetings the Governors office hopes to have with members of the Ethnic Press, the event was attended by about 20 ethnic publications from the area.

Lokvani was the only Indian-American publication at this first meeting - which included Chinese-American, Portuguese, Irish-American, Armenian, Finnish and Jewish publications. Many publications present were over 100 years old. Lokvani, though less than three years old, laid claim to being among the ones with most subscribers.

Expressing the hope that such meetings between the Governors Office and members of the press will bring ethnic communities in direct contact with the government, both Mr. Romney and Ms. Healey showed great interest in gaining more information about the needs and concerns of citizens.

Each representative of the press got an opportunity to speak about his or her publication and about their publication’s readership and Mr. Romney showed keen interest in matters concerning the Indian-American Community in the Bay State. He mentioned that Indian Americans, as one of the most technologically qualified Ethnic Communities, has a lot to offer to the economic well being of the state. Mr. Romney mentioned that he was very impressed with the TiEcon 2003 attendees and said that he enjoyed the question and answer session that followed his keynote address.

When asked if there are any chances visa regulations would be changed to make it easier for skilled professional from India to work in the US, the governor said that he was considering the matter and would give it more thought before committing to any action.

Both Mr. Romney and Ms. Healey said that to work closely with members of all ethnic communities, they would like to get to know them better and indicated that they would welcome invitations to cultural and social functions organized by ethnic organizations. “I know that each one of you would like to meet with us individually but that is impossible. We rarely have time for that, but we invite you to attend every press conference we have. We will also keep you abreast of all press releases, specially the ones pertaining to your community,” said Mr. Romney in conclusion.

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