US rejects visa of Magsaysay awardee Neelima Mishra

The American Consulate in Mumbai has rejected the application for visa by Magsaysay award winner Neelima Mishra, invited in the US to speak on rural development in India.

The American Consulate in Mumbai has rejected the application for visa by Magsaysay award winner Neelima Mishra, invited in the US to speak on rural development in India.

According to the secretary to the social activist who is based in Jalgaon, Mishra was handed over a letter rejecting her application when she went to the consulate on Friday, which said the decision to deny her visa had been taken on the grounds of her unsound "social and economic" status and the possibility of her continued stay in the US.

However, apparently realising the mistake, the consulate officials telephoned her in the evening asking her to come back on Monday, October 3, with the letter of rejection.

Mishra, winner of the 2011 Magsaysay award for her work in rural India, is scheduled to leave for the US on October 12 to address the 9th international conference organised in Chicago by 'India Development Coalition of America', being held on October 15 and 16 in which she is expected to explain her vision of a "model village".