New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine (D) said last week that his administration is keen to look at more Indian and Asian Americans to fill up judicial appointments and sub-cabinet positions.

Corzine, who frequently expressed his regard for the “highly qualified” Indian-American community during the course of an hour-long interaction, is a firm believer in the community’s diversity, and hopes that the administration will be able to rake up the interest of qualified candidates in the community to opt for public service instead of more lucrative private service careers.

“I think there has been slower movement in some Asian and Asian-American communities to move into the bureaucracy of civil service,” said Corzine. “We want to give people the opportunity to have a leadership role.”

Corzine recently appointed Kris Kolluri as New Jersey Commissioner of Transportation, and also retained Seema Singh as Ratepayer Advocate to work in the re-named Public Advocate’s office.

The governor also announced that he was planning to visit India, after dealing with some of the more immediate state and budget issues, to explore trade, commerce and technology ties, particularly in the sectors of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, and the chemical industry. The governor added that collaboration in stem- cell research was another area which had a wide scope for expansion between the state of New Jersey and India.

On the outsourcing front, he said that he expected India would in time become a partner in clinical testing and R&D (Research and Development) activities, which are likely to flourish there

“Every time I go to India, I see visible growth in economic development. But there is a lot of work yet to be done. But India is on a good track, and we look for ways to integrate and bring our ways together,” said Corzine.

He has visited India on a number of occasions; the last in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, and earlier during his days working at Goldman Sachs, where he was the CEO before joining politics and becoming a senator. On local issues, the governor responded favorably. When he was informed that most public places in New Jersey, such as hospitals and senior citizen homes, do not have signs or notices in any Indian language, he said: “This seems like an easy initiative.” He also said he would address concerns regarding the lack of care centers for Indian-American senior citizens with special needs, apart from one in Perth Amboy.

Corzine said he would look to alleviate the property tax burden and increase rebates in his next budget, in accordance with his poll promises.

Earlier in the week, Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset, NJ) hosted a reception at the statehouse on behalf of the New Jersey Asian American Public Leadership Committee (NJAAPLC) —an organization formed to educate and encourage the Asian-American community on public service — to honor Asian Americans who were named part of Corzine’s transition advisory committees. Ajai Singh, Rooney Sahai and Sunil K. Garg were some of the Indian American members of the transition committees who were present at the meet.

Ronald Chen, the former dean for academic affairs at Rutgers University School of Law, in Newark, NJ, was named Public Advocate — the first since the office was disbanded 12 years ago by Governor Christie Whitman’s administration — was a prominent guest present at the gathering of some 80 community leaders and administration officials.

Several speakers lauded Chivukula for bringing about an Asian American gathering at the statehouse. They hoped that it would be the first of many such meets to promote and empower the Asian American community, as well as open doors for qualified members to serve in the administration.

Kris Kolluri, the new Commissioner of Transportation, was not able to attend as he was accepting a community award in Montclair, said Chivukula. Some prominent leaders who spoke at the reception included FIA (Federation of Indian Associations) President Jayesh Patel, Harvinder Wasan of the Bridgewater gurudwara, Democratic leader from Queens, NY, Uma Sengupta, and representatives from the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and Philippine communities.

“We should have at least one Asian member in each and every commission in the state,” said Chivukula. He added that “there was no dearth of qualified Asian-Americans in the state, the sense of civic duty was not as high as it should be and thus many, well qualified in their careers, lacked the requisite public service record in their resumes to rise high in the administration.”