Indian American physician Dr. Nirav Patel (D-New Jersey) is running for a District 12 seat on the New Jersey General Assembly.

NEW YORK (Diya TV) — Indian American physician Dr. Nirav Patel (D-New Jersey) is running for a District 12 seat on the New Jersey General Assembly.

“I pledge that I am running for Assembly in order to serve the people of the 12th Legislative District. I will be available, I will be transparent, and my door will be open to any constituent with any concern, no matter how small they may think their issue may be,” says Patel on his website.

Among Patel’s platform issues are fiscal responsibility, rebuilding infrastructure and healthcare.

“We must address our opponents’ out of control spending habits to lower our tax bills,” says Patel. He says that after “eight years of a failed Governor, New Jersey is heading in the wrong direction. I am new to politics, but I plan to help fight to put New Jersey back in the right direction.”

Claiming that New Jersey is rated 50th of the 50 states in terms of how much federal funding received against what is paid by residents in federal taxes, he “will do my best to get us the funding we so desperately need.”

Patel says despite being a critical shipping hub on the East Coast, “we have a crumbling infrastructure … Under the failed Christie administration, NJ Transit saw a 90 percent reduction in funding, and the Governor constantly stripped money from our transportation budget in order to fund tax cuts for his wealthy donors. It’s been nearly a decade of cuts and now our infrastructure is crumbling,” he said.

He also says the state is facing an opioid epidemic. Patel says he has a threefold plan to address the issue: working with local law enforcement and healthcare providers to better treat addicts, versus incarceration; creating a system that allows athletic trainers, school nurses, families and doctors to work together to ensure the usage of medication in schools is regulated to prevent addiction from occurring; and working with EMTs to ensure a sufficient supply of Narcan, a drug used to treat overdoses, to bring down the high death toll attached to opioid addiction.

“If we are able to enact this plan, we should be able to address both the root causes of addiction, as well as help those who are already addicted.”

Patel is a lifelong advocate for increasing access to quality, affordable healthcare. His educational background includes studies in chemical engineering and economics at Rutgers University.

He is a member of several philanthropic and community service organizations.