[Wikimediaindia-l] Communication from the Executive Committee regarding first meeting

[CherianTinu Abraham]

Hearty congratulations to Arjuna Rao , Hari Prasad & Anirudh Bhati as the
new office bearers of the Wikimedia India chapter. Well deserved & best
wishes for the future.

Having said that, this unexpected announcement leaves me with
several unanswered questions. This has to do nothing with any doubts on
the calibre , integrity & abilities of new office bearers or the rest of the
committee members. I still personally share a very close & cordial relations
with all of the exec comn members, but that doesn't prevent me from asking
lots of questions and concerns as an ordinary Wikimedian like me and it may
be possibly shared by several others in this list.

a) If there was to be a change of the office bearers of the chapter (
decided) on the Jan 22 Exec Comm meeting, why wasn't it announced publicly?
Was there an agenda of election of new office bearers for this meeting or
just happened as a co-incidence ? What were the other decisions taken on
that meeting ? Is there a publicly available minutes of meeting ?

b) How were the new office bearers elected ? Was there an election ? Did the
previous office bearers voluntarily resign and called for a new election?
Was there a vote ? If there was a vote, will it be publicly shared? What was
the need of change of office bearers within few months of chapter approval
or one month of chapter registration ? I thought the term of the executive
committee members and the office bearers was for two years.

 I am sorry but I have to say this , IMHO it is not an ethical
and transparent process if the 7 executive members keep electing each other,
each time !!!!

c) There were several discussions on this mailing list on the chapter on Jan
30 th , 2011 [1] [2] ( after the so called meeting) and had mentions of the
current office bearers and none of the executive com members even bothered
to clarify. I remember at least two of the exec members replying to those
threads then.

d) So the new office bearers' elections happened on Jan 22 , 2011 ? And I
wonder what took the chapter several weeks to announce , such a important
change publicly ? Remember this "new election" happened even without a
publicly announced agenda, before the meeting. How many such elections can
we expect during the current term of the committee?

We already had lots of concerns shared by the community for the lack
of transparency by the chapter and these kinds of things will only underline
them.

If this is the way the chapter intends to operate, I am deeply concerned and
worried about its future.

Regards
Tinu Cherian

N.B.
a) To clarify, I don't intend to run for any office positions for the
chapter. But I may have to even think twice to be part of a body which
clearly intends to work without any proper transparency and works
disconnected from the community, which it supposedly represents.

b) I have always supported the chapter previously in the several discussions
earlier, but this announcement put me really worried and hence this mail.
Anyways, my best wishes again for the new office bearers and the chapter.
Hoping the see more transparent and candid efforts from the chapter in
future.

[1]
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-January/001891.html

[2]
http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-February/001935.html


On Sun, Feb 6, 2011 at 7:23 PM, BalaSundaraRaman <sundarbecse at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Dear all,
>
>
> Following the registration of the Wikimedia Chapter, the first meeting of
> the Executive Committee (EC) was held on the 22nd January 2011 at 2 PM at
> 194, 2nd C Cross, Domlur 2nd Phase, Bangalore 560071.
>
> As mandated by the MoA, the office bearers were elected. The executive
> committee now constitutes of:
>
>    - Arjuna Rao Chavala, *President*
>    - Hari Prasad HS, *Secretary*
>    - Anirudh Singh Bhati, *Treasurer*
>    - Arun Ramarathnam, Member
>    - BalaSundaraRaman Lakshmanan, Member
>    - Gautam K John, Member
>    - Srinivas Gunta, Member
>
> We would like to take the opportunity to thank the Centre for Internet and
> Society, Bangalore for allowing generous use of their office facility for
> the conduct of chapter meetings and helping with registration formalities
> with services of a Consultant.
>
> We take this opportunity to thank the following people: (in alphabetical
> order) Achal Prabhala, Barry Newstead, Bence Damokos, Bishakha Datta,
> Delphine Meynard, M Narasimha Rao, Ray Saintonge, Sunil Abraham, and Ting
> Chen.
>
> We thank the Wikimedia Community for their help and encouragement and
> patience with the registration process.
>
> For brief biographies and photos of the EC members, please see:Wikimedia
> India Chapter Executive Committee Members<http://wikimedia.in/wiki/Wikimedia_India_Chapter_Executive_Committee_Members>
>
>
> On behalf of Wikimedia Chapter
>
> BalaSundaraRaman Lakshmanan,
>
> Member, Wikimedia Chapter
>
> "That language is an instrument of human reason, and not merely a medium
> for the expression of thought, is a truth generally admitted."
> - George Boole, quoted in Iverson's Turing Award Lecture
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
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