Dear Rahimanuddin,
Thank you taking time to study the revised budget and sharing for your feedback.
It would be nice if the Language allocations are much more elaborate.
I understand that, its difficult to put that on a paper. But, if we get to
know, how much A2K-CIS is planning for outreach/technical programs/any other expenses, we can have a draft ready on behalf of Telugu Wikipedia as to how they could be put to right use.
As you will see from our revised budget we have allocated about Rs. 5 lakhs on an average per Language area (which also includes Telugu Wikipedia) over the next one year period. However, at the moment we do not have greater clarity on how this will be spent as each language area will have different requirements/projects in mind. We intend to do this in consultation with that specific language community and in the most transparent manner. Thus once we get an approval of the revised budget and based on our discussions on the Work Plan, we will get back to you and others in the Telugu Wiki Community (through mailing lists and Village Pump). Further, there will be periodic reviews of the utilization of these funds along with progress of Work Plans by a 4-5 member Community Advisory Team. If you see potential in the plans, I would encourage some of you nominate yourself on this Advisory team.
In the meanwhile, I would encourage the Telugu Wikipedia community to discuss how best it would like to see this money utilized during the next year such that we achieve our desired targets for the qualitative and quantitative growth of Telugu Wikipedia.
Its good on your part sharing the budget. It not only gives a transparency,
but also, lets some people understand the minute expenses that on a smaller scale are ignored but on a yearly view, they become huge!
Thank you for your encouragement. I would request each one of you to continue to demand work and support from the A2K team and leverage it for the growth of our Telugu Wikipedia and other Telugu Wikimedia projects.
Best, Vishnu