Indian-origin minister blazes a trail in Canada
After Diwali fireworks for community, she is working on dedicated cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs
Andhra-born Dipika Damerla, who is the first Indian-origin woman minister in Canada’s biggest province of Ontario, is blazing a trail in community service.
If thanks to her efforts Indian-Canadians in the neighbouring Mississauga just enjoyed their first-ever Diwali fireworks, the community may soon have dedicated places for cremation and disposal of the ashes.
“Now I am working with the authorities for getting dedicated cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs and the spots where they can scatter the ashes. Though the Indo-Canadian population is increasing rapidly, there is no communityspecific cremation place and spots for disposing of the ashes,” says Dikipa, who is Ontario’s associate minister for long-term care with a budget of almost Canadian $4 billion (Dh11 billion).
Secunderabad-born Dipika is the first Andhra woman to hold any ministerial position in North America. “Maybe perhaps I am the first Andhra woman to hold a ministerial position outside India,” says the young minister who was appointed to the position last year after her Liberal Party was re-elected to the office.
Daughter of an armyman, Dipika came to Canada in 1991 after finishing her undergraduation. On completing her MBA from the famous Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, she served as a corporate executive with the country’s two top banks — the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Nova Scotia — before quitting to raise her daughter.
Dipika is also a former TV journalist who has worked with Toronto-based OMNI TV channel which serves Canada’s South Asian communities. In fact, it was her interaction as a journalist with politicians which led her to joining the office of the then Premier Dalton McGuinty in 2007 and then enter politics.