Nine Indian-origin people work in White House

At least nine Indian-origin people work in the White House, with some getting $100,000 or more a year, official figures released by President Barack Obama’s office have revealed. According to the figures, Sonal Shah, who’s the Deputy Assistant to the US President and Director at Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, gets an annual salary of $120,000.

Both Rachana Bhowmick, who is the Director of Special Projects, and Aditya Kumar, also Director of Special Projects as well as Special Assistant to Office of Chief of Staff, earn $99,000 a year each.

Those in the salary slab less than $90,000 are Anisha Dasgupta who works as a Counsel at an annual package of $86,927 and Pradeep Ramamurthy, the Director of Response Policy, whose gross salary is $86,927. The figures, released on the White House blog, also reveal that Kavita Patel who is the Director of Policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement gets $65,000 annually, while Shomik Dutta, the Special Assistant to White House Counsel, earns $62,000.

Likewise, White House Policy Advisor Manashi Deshpande earns $54,000 a year while Taara Rangarajan gets $40,000 for her services as Deputy Associate Director.

According to the White House, consistent with Obama’s commitment to transparency, the figures have been disclosed on its website as it is transmitted to the US Congress. Since the year 1995, it’s required to deliver a report every year.