[Foundation-l] Fwd: Wikimedia India Program Trust

Mon Nov 14 18:14:17 UTC 2011

The following comments are my personal view and not necessarily of an
Executive Member of the Wikimedia India Chapter.

Having said that I must politely disagree with some of the views of
Anirudh, my fellow Executive Member and Salmaan ( Theo) , a member of
Wikimedia India chapter. But I do respect their personal views , but I
guess we agree to disagree.

The news of the formation of Wikimedia India Program Trust wasn't anything
new to the chapter EC as it was mentioned in last two Chapter - Foundation
Co-ordination meetings, if I remember correctly. And Sunil Abraham ,
Director of Centre of Internet & Society ( CIS) is a patron of Wikimedia
movement in India and chapter in India, not to forget that CIS have been
sharing their office space for the chapter and Wikimeetups in Bangalore, or
all the help CIS was doing for boot strapping the chapter.

When it comes to "paid contractors/staff ", I don't see a difference
between Theo[1] or Hisham, except that Hisham is working for a longer term.
So what? Not every work can be done as a volunteer. As far as I understand,
the foundation is also committed to support the chapters and community
alike.

The way I see is India is a land of immense potential for the Wikimedia
Movement. IMHO, There is enough space of 10 chapters and Wikimedia offices
to co-exist and work together in India.  When there are more than enough
work to do, I don't understand why this hue and cry.

There is only one who could diminish the importance of the chapter, the
chapter itself. The road ahead for us is not easy but there are tons of
things to do. We have our advantages but limitations too. Our current bank
balance [2] is not more than a night's tariff at a decent hotel. The board
members does the clerical work of receiving membership applications to
posting individual snail mail letters of acceptance of membership. In spite
of all these, we do this for the passion and love for the movement. It does
come at the sacrifice of our own professional/career growths or the
wonderful time we would otherwise have spend with our family and friends.
But we are proud to Wikipedians/Wikimedians! And we love what we are doing.

Foundation-Community-Chapter-India Trust...Yea, it is complicated and the
model may or may not be the best.. But that is the reality. Let us all work
together for the movement.

Regards
Tinu Cherian

References

1) http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_contractors
2) http://wiki.wikimedia.in/images/0/06/WMIN-AnnualReport2010-11.pdf

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh at gmail.com> wrote:

> My personal opinion, and I only speak for myself and not the Chapter or the
> Foundation (I wouldn't dare!).
>
> On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Lodewijk <lodewijk at effeietsanders.org
> >wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > thanks a lot all for exmplaining the differences. I would be very much
> > interested to know more about the ''relationship'' between the trust and
> > Wikimedia India. You seem to suggest that trustees get appointed by (or
> on
> > the advice of - not sure of the legal wording) the WMF - but will
> Wikimedia
> > India be involved in that too? Since they are the chapter in that
> country I
> > could imagine them to have a say in it.
> >
>
> Nope.  Up until now WMIN has not received any say either with the India
> Education Programs design and implementation or the structuring of the
> Wikimedia India Program Trust.  And given that not many people are going to
> talk about it, I don't think much will change in the future.
>
>
> >
> > How closely will this trust and the chapter work together? You mention
> that
> > there is communication etc - but is cooperation likely to become the
> > default or the exception?
>
>
> From my own experience and from what I have heard from a fellow Pune
> community member, the general community and the Chapter body have been
> excluded and ignored by WMF consultants from the very beginning.  In fact,
> the Chapter representatives were only invited to attend meetings when Frank
> Schlenburg and Annie Lin were in town.
>
>
> >
> > And how will it work with regards of who will be the primary point of
> > contact in India for institutions who want to partner with Wikimedia?
> Will
> > they have to approach one of the two or whichever they like (and if they
> > dont get the answer they like, can they just approach the other?). Will
> the
> > chapter and the trust be competing with each other or collaborating?
> >
>
> I think there is already a lot of confusion with regard to the two entities
> operating out of India.  Going by the media, news reporters are already
> very confused by the existence of two Wikimedia bodies and I personally get
> a lot of queries every week asking me to clarify on the location of
> Wikimedia offices.  With its paid consultants, the local WMF consultants
> have done a good job of making their presence felt (especially in Western
> India), and more and more journalists are interested in hearing from WMF
> (the "international organization") than WMIN.
>
> The initial idea, if I understood it correctly, was to establish another
> non-profit body within India, for a period of three to five years to
> execute specific (and large-scale) programmes.  As of now, the WIPT
> (Wikimedia India Program Office) can pretty much do anything it wants with
> the Wikimedia brand - partner with institutions, raise money locally, have
> paid employees and bypass community.  This is what I foresee happening:
>  WMIN will be involved in community-building and small-scale projects which
> support volunteers and the WIPT will partner with large institutions in
> India (who are understandably looking to club with international
> organizations), get a lot of media coverage and acquire the big grants
> (since WMIN is not a professional body).  WMIN and WIPT will theoretically
> compete for funding within India, much of which will be allocated to WIPT,
> given that it is professionalized (and because we never had a chance) and
> in WMF's good graces.  This is how WMIN has been made redundant (something
> that I have been saying for a long, long time).
>
> The most important difference, something many are uncomfortable talking
> about, is in the distribution of money.  The WIPT in India will have access
> to *significantly *more WMF funding than WMIN (significant meaning *real
> significant*).  Around the time when discussions about the India Office
> began, Barry came to India and assured us that the WIPT will only be here
> for a period of 3-5 years.  I am hopeful that the Foundation will stick to
> its words, and with time we will all learn that small volunteer-driven
> projects have a larger impact than costly, ill-designed, large-scale
> programmes run by hired consultants who hire consultants with no relevant
> background (with a couple of exceptions).
>
>
> >
> > Thanks for helping me seeing the situation more clearly,
> >
>
> No, thank you for asking the right questions.
>
>
> >
> > Lodewijk
> >
> >
> anirudh
>
> _______________________________________________
> > foundation-l mailing list
> > foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> >
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-l mailing list
> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
>