Hi Hari, Srikant and Vishnu,
I want to understand couple of points in this regard, I would appreciate if each of you
can share your insights on these questions:
(1) Was the Wikimedia India Chapter Board involved in framing up this FDC Proposal and
fixing compensation? Or was it left to CIS to address it? And that Wikimedia Community
woke up late to realities of life.
(2) Compensation to the tune of few lakhs per month per person will definitely need a more
stringent procedures for appraisals and appointments. What are the steps that Wikimedia
India Chapter has taken to initiate proper scrutiny and appraisal?
(3) On an additional note, considering the hiring by CIS is related to Wikimedia related
activities, are the procedures in line with the standard practices that are adopted by
Wikimedia Foundation elsewhere/worldwide?
Considering we are a non-profit, and that we are not a thriving entity with our programme
budgets running into crores of rupees, administrative expenses running beyond even 20% is
a red flag. Just that we are a non-profit, does not mean we will need to fix
salaries/compensations on a appointed-to-enjoy basis, rather I strongly recommend that the
Board takes note of adopting a more performance based incentive structure. Is that already
in place for managerial roles such as a Programme Director and other senior management
positions? I feel terrible and sorry to learn of the proceedings so far, and that we did
not have enough budget to support an admin salary for Sowmyan.
I am actually surprised that the Budgetary Allocations find no mention for Briefing and
Support Training for Board Members to equip themselves with few basic running structures
and legal points to take note, considering it will not take huge budget. And a case in
point for the board members of Wikimedia India Chapter, that spending beyond the line by a
related party agency through which funds were received for activities related to
Wikimedia, will not absolve the board members of the responsibility of oversight in legal
course of action by any member (past or present) of the Wikimedia India Chapter ( I
understand it is registered as a Society). I recommend the Board takes immediate
cognizance of the proceedings so far, red flag issues at appropriate levels and initiate
corrective action.
regards
Abhijith
_________________________Abhijith JayanthiE: abhijith(a)wikimedia.inM: +91-9866898311
On Wednesday, 14 May 2014 12:15 AM, Hari Prasad Nadig <hpnadig(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Pavanaja,
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
You have received an annual compensation of about 17 Lakhs last year (that also excludes
travel and other reimbursements) as per the declaration made by Vishnu on the talk page of
this proposal [1]. This came from the funds granted to CIS that was received from WMF
through FCRA. And this will be increased by 20% for this year?
Further, for Kannada alone, 12.3 Lakhs seem to be set aside out of which you seem to be
the primary beneficiary. [2]
And all this while, you have been a columnist for Prajavani.
This seems to be a clear violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act as outlined by
Srikanth on the copied email.
Regards,
[1] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/…
[2] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Draft_Work_plan_J…
On 13 May 2014 22:29, Srikanth Ramakrishnan <rsrikanth05(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Pavanaja,
as per the FCRA:
3. (1) No foreign contribution shall be accepted by any- (g) association or company
engaged in the production or broadcast of audio news or audio visual news or current
affairs programmes through any electronic mode, or any other electronic form as defined in
clause ® of sub-section (I) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 or any
other mode of mass communication; (h) correspondent or columnist, cartoonist, editor,
owner of the association or company referred to in clause (g).
Writing a weekly column, as a freelancer makes one a columnist.
On 13 May 2014 15:52, Pavanaja U B <pavanaja(a)vishvakannada.com> wrote:
Hi,
There is a factual error. I am not employed with Prajavani. I write just one column per
week as freelancer.
Regards,
Pavanaja
From:wikimedia-in-blr-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org
[mailto:wikimedia-in-blr-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Srikanth Ramakrishnan
Sent: 13 May 2014 12:50
To: Wikimedia India Community list
Cc: Kannada Wikipedia Discussion List wikikn-l(a)wikipedia.org; Mailing list for Wikimedians
/ Wikipedians in Bangalore, India
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-in-blr] [Wikimediaindia-l] On CIS's grants request from
Wikimedia Foundation
Hi all, I have one important question here.
The Foreign Contribution Regulatory Act prohibits money received from abroad to be used as
payments or salaries to anyone employed with the press or media.
I believe Dr. Pavanaja is a columnist for Prajavani. How does this work out?
It's just a preemptive question.
On 12 May 2014 17:45, Hari Prasad Nadig <hpnadig(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Fellow Wikimedians,
As you all know, Center for Internet and Society, Bangalore has sought funding of about
1.8 Crores through the FDC process from Wikimedia Foundation to carry out work on seven
local language projects in India that includes Kannada, Telugu among others. [1]
The funds primarily cover the salaries of the people belonging to the CIS-A2K team among
other administrative expenses and other expenses as outlined on their proposal page.
The proposal was up for Community review and comments until April 30th and many have
recorded their response about it [2]. Several community members have come forward in
pointing out that the staff salaries being paid and that being proposed - are quite on the
higher side (which is up to 2.4 Lakhs per month per person).
Apart from the concerns on extremely high salaries for Indian norms of the team members of
CIS-A2K team, there have been some serious concerns raised about some apparent Conflict of
Interest [3] and non-compliance with the local laws (mainly Karnataka Societies act and
the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act).
However, looks like the proposal has moved forward through the FDC process for funding
despite the concerns raised and has gotten through to the next stage.
More concerns have now been raised by several community members on the Staff Assessment
discussion page here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/…
I invite you to participate in the discussion and help steer this in the right direction.
[1] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/The_C…
[2] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/…
[3] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Draft_Work_plan_J…
Thank you,
--
Hari Prasad Nadig
http://hpnadig.net
http://twitter.com/hpnadig
http://flickr.com/hpnadig
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Regards,
Srikanth Ramakrishnan,
What goes around, may not necessarily come around, it may simply bounce back.
Please sign this petition for Volvo buses in Coimbatore:
https://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/the-transport-minister-tamil-nadu-in…
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--
Regards,
Srikanth Ramakrishnan,
What goes around, may not necessarily come around, it may simply bounce back.
Please sign this petition for Volvo buses in Coimbatore:
https://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/the-transport-minister-tamil-nadu-in…
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--
Hari Prasad Nadig
http://hpnadig.net
http://twitter.com/hpnadig
http://flickr.com/hpnadig
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