Focus Groups Comment on the First 100 Days of the Obama Administration

Officer Kris Fresonke listens to a participant from Group IV

April 18: On April 18, Consul General Andrew Simkin invited 50 academics, journalists, business and NGO leaders, and students to his residence to voice their opinions on President Obama’s first 100 days in office. The guests were also asked what the Consulate General should be doing to enhance mutual understanding between India and the United States. The 50 participants were divided into five groups, with each group joined by two Consulate employees. The discussions were spirited and elicited a lot of new ideas about U.S. policies on the economy, environment and foreign affairs. Among the many good suggestions: do more to dispel myths about outsourcing; bring more U.S. students and scholars to India (to correct the imbalance with Indians in the United States); cooperate to combat religious bigotry and intolerance. The Consulate General is in the process of compiling all of the ideas, which will inform policy-makers in Washington.