Adhikaar in New York Times City Section

For a People Overlooked, a Lens at Last

By JEFF VANDAM

Published: April 29, 2007

THE questions began over momo, small Nepali dumplings filled with minced chicken and chives, in the mirror-lined dining room of Chilli Chicken, a restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights that is run by a Nepali man who had a Bluetooth headset attached to his ear.

“This is optional,” began Luna Ranjit, president of Adhikaar, a Nepali immigrant group in Queens that has just begun a survey of the estimated 30,000 Nepalese who live in the city. “You don’t have to answer any of the questions you don’t feel comfortable with.”

For the full article, please click here.

Naya Barsha Happy Hour

Happy New Year 2064 to all of you, and big thank you to all of you came to the happy hour fundraiser on April 24th at COLORS restaurant. 50 friends and allies joined us, and we were able to raise over $700.

We chose to organize the happy hour at COLORS because it is a cooperative restaurant - where all the workers are also owners. Thank you COLORS for hosting us.

If you missed the happy hour but would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, you can do so online or by sending us a check to "Adhikaar" to our office address: 30-18 37th Avenue, Suite 220, Long Island City, NY 11101.

Adhikaar in the News

An article about Adhikaar's community research project was published by Times Ledger on April 12, 2007.

Group to survey boro Nepalis By Adam Pincus

Luna Ranjit, the president for the group Adhikaar, said it was launching the survey because Nepalis are missing out on social services since there is no accurate data on their population in the region.

"To be able to effectively address the problems we want a better understanding of exactly what is happening in the community," she said.

Adhikaar, located at 30-18 37th Ave., is beginning the "Jankari research project" Friday and hopes to have the results by early 2008.

Adhikaar, which means "rights," was founded by Nepali women 1 years ago to increase services for Nepalis in New York, who have been overlooked beside the much larger Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani, among other, communities.

There are an estimated 25,000 Nepalis living in Queens with the greatest concentration in Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Ridgewood, she said. More than 60 percent of the population is estimated to be men.

The entire article can be found here.