The Indian Youth Welfare Association (IYWA) recently held a function to honor Indian consulate officials, leaving the Kingdom at the end of their respective tenures, as well as the well-known social activist Dr. Abdullah Moopan. The consular officials who were felicitated at the function were Madan Lal Raigar, Sita Ram Meena, Anil Naib and Chitra Naib. Dr. Moopan was honored for rendering his selfless and untiring services to the Indian community in Jeddah. The occasion was also used to celebrate the Indian cricket team's winning the World Cup last month. Mir Gazanfar Ali Zaki, General Secretary of the IYWA, in his welcome speech commended the Indian consulate's pivotal role in serving the Indian community. For this, he said, credit goes to the earnest and devoted team of consuls who provide necessary assistance and services to the Indian community as and when required. He said said that it is the obligation of the community to recognize their services and express gratitude to these officials. Dr. Moopan, he said, was always there to help Indian community members irrespective to caste, creed, religion and region. His encouragement for the Indian associations to do concrete welfare programs for the community will always be remembered. L. Ramnarayan Iyer, IYWA chief patron, extolled the contribution of Indian Consulate General and the consuls for their services to the community. He also praised the contribution of Dr. Moopan to the Indian community in various fields like sports, education, social and community welfare. Dr. Moopan exhorted Indian community members to strive hard and create competition in educational field through creativity, excellence and prudence. “A majority of Indians fall under the under-privileged section of the society and it's the responsibility of the educated youth to transform them into educated and skilled persons by creating education awareness and encouraging the talented youngsters to take up challenging careers,” he said. Emphasizing on the importance of sports, Dr. Moopan said youth should be engaged in sports activity to develop sportsman sprit of accepting both the victory and defeat while striving for excellence. IYWA expressed hearty congratulations to all Indian players and team management on winning the Cricket World cup 2011. Pranav Ganesh Consul (Consular) in the Indian Consulate Jeddah, was the chief guest and presented memento to Dr. Moopan. Ramnarayan Iyer presented memento to Madan Lal Raigar and Sita Ram Meena. IYWA President presented mementos to Anil Naib and Chitra Naib. The program was hosted by Surinder Pal Singh. Muzzammil Hussain, Chief Coordinator IYWA, gave a vote of thanks.
