Priyanca Radhakrishnan in New Zealand parliament Photograph:( Twitter )
Born in India, Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education
A video of New Zealand's first-ever Indian-origin minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan speaking in the country's parliament is going viral on the internet.
The video was shared by India's Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri with the caption ''Doing India proud''.
Doing India proud, the Indian origin minister in New Zealand @priyancanzlp addresses her country's parliament in Malayalam.@IndiainNZ @NZinIndia @VMBJP @MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/f3yUURW2Em
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) November 5, 2020
In the video, which is from a parliament session in 2017, Priyanca Radhakrishnan, who is from Kerala, is saying "Mr. Speaker, I believe that it's the first time my mother tongue, Malayalam, has been spoken in this house."
Born in India, Radhakrishnan, 41, went to school in Singapore before moving to New Zealand to further her education.
Radhakrishnan has spent her work life advocating on behalf of people whose voices are often unheard of women survivors of domestic violence, and migrant workers who have been exploited.
She was elected first as a Member of Parliament belonging to the Labour Party in September 2017.
In 2019, she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Ethnic Communities.
Her work in that area has helped her build the base for her new role of Minister for Diversity, Inclusion, and Ethnic Communities.
In addition to this, she has become the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector and Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment.
When Radhakrishnan was elected as New Zealand's first-ever Indian-origin minister, Kerala's Chief Minister congratulated her.
It gives us immense happiness to learn that Priyanca Radhakrishnan (@priyancanzlp) became the first-ever Indian-origin minister of New Zealand. The Labour party leader has her roots in Kerala. On behalf of the people of the State, we extend our warmest greetings.
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) November 3, 2020