Indian-American teen Tanishka Dhariwal raises funds in USA to help Odisha train accident victims

16-year-old Tanishka Dhariwal presented the funds to the Consul General of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal, on Friday.

Tanishka Dhariwal said she hopes the fund will help those affected by the train tragedy.

“I was able to start a GoFundMe page. I reached out to schools, districts, friends and family and raised over USD 10,000. Hopefully, this money will be able to go and help the people who have been affected deeply by this. I believe a little goes a long way and hopefully this is a good start to it,” Dhariwal told ANI.

The donation ceremony was attended by Haridas Kotewala, patron member of RANA; Ashok Sancheti, advisor at Jaipur Foot USA; Ravi Jargarh, joint secretary of RANA; and Chandra Sukhwal, a senior member of RANA, reports the Indian news agency.

Prem Bhandari, president of RANA and founding chair of Jaipur Foot USA, underscored the exceptional efforts undertaken by young Indian-Americans like Tanishka.

“In Tanishka’s heartfelt gesture, it’s not about the amount. It’s about the emotion behind it. This also highlights stronger ties that are still alive among U.S.-born Indian youth and their homeland. These connections take on greater significance against the backdrop of India’s ongoing pursuit of self-reliance under PM Modi,” Prem Bhandari told ANI.

As many as 293 people died and 1200 were injured in a triple train collision tragedy in Balasore district of Odisha on June 2.