[15:30:44] Hi [15:30:50] Hello everyone! [15:32:02] HI [15:32:15] Hello! Good evening [15:34:04] Hello everyone [15:34:17] Hello! Good Evening ! Everybody [15:34:27] Hi Soni, Dr Cenjury [15:34:52] Are the ElecCom present [15:35:15] I'm on the phone.. So I don't know.. [15:37:23] Lets wait some more time for the Election committee members to join [15:37:29] okay :) [15:38:04] okay [15:38:37] hi all. This is harish satpute. [15:39:41] Hello! [15:40:34] hi all, Nikhil Kawale here. [15:40:58] Hi! NK [15:41:04] That's seven candidates so far [15:41:43] Do you mean seven candidates are here on IRC ? [15:41:48] So we're waiting for thirteen more and the EC members [15:41:51] KCVelaga - Krishna Chaitanya Velaga [15:43:04] ElecCom* not Ec [15:43:15] hello Krishna [15:43:36] Hi Sir, Good to see you [15:44:32] Lets all introduce ourselves here for the record.. Before moving ahead.. [15:44:39] I ll start [15:45:13] My name is Yohann Thomas from Ernakulam, Kerala, currently residing in Hyderabad [15:45:44] I have been a member of wmin since 2013 & have been editing on Wikipedia since 2008 [15:45:44] I am Satdeep Gill from Patiala, Punjab. Currently studying in New Delhi. [15:46:25] My name is Suyash Dwivedi, from Bhopal -Madhya Pradesh [15:46:29] Hello! This is Ataullah Khan Kak Cenjary in short, Drcenjary (ur), Lives in Kozhikode, Calicut. I Teach in University [15:47:08] Oh. I thought that was it. So, I am on Wikipedia since 2009. I am currently a member of the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee and the Wikimedia Language Committee. [15:47:59] I am Viswanathan Prabhakaran, Nick:ViswaPrabha, User:Viswaprabha from Thrissur, Kerala. I am one of the candidates. My details are available on the profiles page for Elections-2016. [15:48:03] Nikhil basically from Bhopal, got introduced to Wikipedia n sister projects in 2010 in Pune during engineering, continued editing and contributing on commons and then handled EC position during my MBA [15:48:44] I am Krishna Chaitanya Velaga, from English Wikipedia, contributing to the project since December 2014, I am from the Military history stream. I have been the "Military history newcomer of the year" for 2016, and featured Wikimedia for Jan 2017. I am graduation student from Tenali, Guntur Dist., Andhra Pradesh [15:48:59] Hello everyone, I'm Srikar Kashyap from Hyderabad currently residing in Vijayawada, AP. Editing since 2011 and served as intern at WMIN in 2016. [15:51:01] My name is harish satpute, from mumbai. Marathi wikipedia community. [15:51:30] Hello. Subham Soni here, I edit by the username Soni. I've been editing at the English Wikipedia for the last five years. Recently was involved with Wikiconference India among other things :) [15:51:46] I am currently working in Bangalore [15:52:28] I started editing Wikipedia from its very early days, but officially registered as a Wikiuser in 2004. I mostly edited in Malayalam, English, Sanskrit (wikipedia +Wikisource+Wiktionary) and Meta +Wikimedia Commons apart from other WMF projects. [15:54:14] I mostly edit on Hindi, English and Commons [15:55:09] anyone else, whos introduction is left?? [15:55:48] Hello, I am santosh shingare, started editing wikipedia in 2011. [15:56:17] Though I have registered in 2009, Became active in 2014 only. Focussing more in Urdu Wikipedia (Around 10,000) articles have been corrected till date. I am comfortable at Urdu, English, Telugu Wikipedias. Also do visit Malayalam, Kannada, Persinan Wikipdia too. [15:56:56] Oh! Hindi Wikipedia too is there. [15:58:29] So this is just for everyones information.. there is a Q&A page for all candidates to fill up.. [15:58:30] http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Elections_2016/Nominations/Q%26A [15:58:55] thiswill give an idea on what is the future plan of all the candidates to the community [15:58:56] Is this mandatory to answer all the questions ? [15:59:41] What happens when candidates are not present for today's IRC [15:59:42] No, it is not... But still, it will give inputs to the community & whether they should vote for you or not [15:59:54] Nothing... [16:00:22] Why do the rules mention the IRC as mandatory for candidates to attend [16:00:33] This is not a compulsory IRC.. but it will have an impact on the outlook of the community about the individual [16:01:34] Okay! [16:01:50] Is the ElecCom here ? [16:01:58] ok.. so i wll be taking one imporant question which has been asked in every IRC.. [16:02:12] How would find time for the Chapter, considering other roles [16:02:49] Chapter work is very strainour & time consuming & how will tha candidates find time for the work [16:02:56] *strainous [16:03:25] Request all the candidates to answer this question please.. [16:03:29] Mr. Krishna Chaitanya I appreciate your answer where you said that If "I am elected the first thing I would like to put on is the work regarding the FCRA license". [16:04:12] Oh! Thanks for that [16:04:21] Just posted that one [16:04:29] Sure Sir [16:04:37] Answer here you mean Yohann? [16:05:27] Yes Soni.. You can answer it here.. SInce it is a very important question.. [16:06:14] As I am student, will continue in the same role for the next two years, I have a lot of time to contribute. Generally I stay on Wiki for about 2–3 days on working days and even more on weekends, except if I have any special commitments for the week. So that helps me to put a lot of time into the role. I can help out with handling newsletter etc. [16:07:28] How would find time for the Chapter--> Generally How much time needed ?? [16:08:24] I stll have around 3 years of student life so I'm free both on weekdays and weekends. I can easily spend 1-2 hours daily if needed on weekdays and much more on weekends. I've had experience of helping with the monthly reports of WMIN when I was an intern and I think that would be beneficial to me [16:09:02] I may be able to give you a general idea about the time required to work as an EC Member. [16:09:17] Yes.. Viswa.. Please [16:09:23] Personally I have minimal workloads for the next few months. Like in the next 8 months or so, my personal requirements professionally are rather minimal so I get plenty of free time, which I have been devoting to Wikimedia related things already as it is. Even after that, I have my working life with rather reasonable requirements so it will be simple for me to work if needed. I have already done so for the last year or more [16:09:48] please Viswa [16:10:15] Hi Suyash, generally there is no specific time i can tell you about, but since the EC is the governance part of WIkimedia Chapter, so some issues need to be recitifed on urgent basis and some need special attention on the longer run. [16:11:49] As a normal EC Member, you need to spend around 3 x4 (12 days in an year) traveling to a city (typically Bangalore) for its quarterly mandatory meetings. This may change up or down depending upon particular cases. You may also have to spend more off-line time if you are assigned with (or volunteered to) co-ordinate or participate in any community events or conferences. [16:12:32] Specially if someone get selected based out in Bangalore, he/she has to run to auditor or bank or our registered office. that will be operational part for governance related issue which we also call administration work, [16:12:54] If nobody minds I have a follow up question towards the current EC members here. What are the reasons why the urgent problems (FCRA for one) have not been resolved yet? [16:13:09] Apart from this, when everything is going on smoothly, and if things were ideally functional, you need to spend typically 3 to 4 hours a week every week for the bnext two years. [16:13:32] Sir, Since we are associated with Wikimedia and its sister projects on our own it is our moral responsibility to share our time with one or more projects. When we have shown our desire to be EC member an ethical value is also being added. Every body getting some free time every day every second day or every week. Only we have to give command to ourselves "Give priortiy to Wikimedia. [16:13:34] Like what limited them from being solved in the last few months/weeks [16:13:45] However, the chapter is not in its best of the times. [16:14:13] So, everything about the chapter need to be taken care by ONLY the EC members. [16:14:15] There is a report pending from my side on that Soni. I am currently engaged in exams. But I can tell you that the current EC has been putting in its best efforts [16:15:05] This includes regularizing its documents, licenses, regulatory certificates , financial accounts and statements and affiliation reinforcements. [16:15:13] Okay thanks. [16:15:15] Hi [16:15:38] thanks for elaborating Viswa [16:15:39] Hi Soni, as Vishwa said chapter is not in best times, currently we hold temporary FCRA certificate which limits the fund limit from foundation to Wikimedia Chapter India, in order to get the permament one it takes lts of rounds to MHA, auditors and other governement officials to get things done [16:15:39] Yohann, there's an announcement at http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Elections_2016/Announcement that clearly states that attendance by all candidates is mandatory [16:15:43] In such cases, the office bearers (President, Secretary and Treasurer) may have much more time to be reserved for the Chapter work. [16:16:04] So is it mandartory or not? And if it is, what happens to the candidates who did not attend? [16:16:09] Other EC members also will need to take up portions of these work and help the whole chapter. [16:16:42] Please let me continue one point. [16:16:46] please let Viswa complete [16:17:09] go ahead Vishwa [16:17:23] If you know there's a sensible work that you must attend to, kindly let other Wikipedia a know and it should be fine [16:17:43] Many often, one may not be proficient in a particular task. Some other times, the proficient one is not free enough to contribute. In such times, every EC member should come forward to fill the gap. [16:19:03] Being an EC is not a flower bed nor a cake walk, at least for now. It means a lot of sweating and in return, you can expect no rewards other than blames and scarred names. That's the reality. [16:19:03] (Sorry my messages are getting delivered slightly late, please dont mind if I accidentally interrupt) [16:19:44] I second that Vishwa (Y) [16:19:56] But someone has to do this sacrifice now. I suggest only those who know this very well in advance should stand for the positions. [16:20:07] I third that Viswa.. ;) [16:20:15] @nikhilk: I understand that. What I am asking is what part of the process, specifically, are we currently stuck on. Like have we applied for one or are we waiting for some govt response? Right now, what is stopping us? [16:20:21] The results for our efforts will come back much later, say after an year or so. [16:20:32] Yes ! I second what Vishwa Sir has said. Everybody should feel as a TEAM. Together Everybody Achieves More. [16:20:40] government responses [16:20:54] But I am sure, they will be written in golden lines much later, in the history of Wikipedia movement in India, after a decade or so. [16:20:57] Got it. [16:20:58] True we are one Team [16:21:17] I fourth-fifth that Viswa :) [16:21:29] @Soni I think our current situation will be best explained by the report which will be submitted by Satdeep Gill as part of the Advisory committee [16:21:44] Got it, Yohann. Thanks. [16:22:02] There will be second IRC meeting on ​9​ Apr​il​ 2017 between Candidates and the Voters. Voters can make use of this opportunity to interact with each candidate in WMIN election. Attendance by candidates is mandatory. [16:22:14] It clearly says attendance is mandatory [16:22:52] But for a few trips to Bangalore or so and a few free lunches and hotel stay, (that too only if we have some money in our accounts), we get nothing as a reward for being the chapter EC member or office bearer. [16:22:55] But also, we have not been quite strict earlier as well [16:23:06] So what happens if candidates are absent? Is there any ElecCom member here who can elaborate? [16:23:06] @soni @satdeep regarding whether what will happen to candidates who are not attending the IRC, it is nowhere written in the Election rules about it.. [16:23:16] @yohannvt in that case, did any absentees let you (or EleCom) know the reason for their absence? [16:23:28] Last ELections in 2015 , a certain candidate who got elected wasnt there in the IRC [16:23:29] I agree @Satdeep. Many nominations were filed way after the deadline was over. [16:23:37] Nevertheless, this is the time, true lovers of Wikipedia must come forward, spare some valued quality time regularly and dedicate their days and hours to the cause of Wikimedia India Chapter. [16:24:06] yohannvt, clearly there are some places where the rules are not crystal clear and the required people are supposed to take decisions and reply [16:24:26] As Ryan Merkley said "Big fights with our enemies and not small fights with our friends." [16:24:26] In this case, it is supposed to be ElecCom members, but I dont know if they are there currently. [16:24:32] Sir, Being associated with a system which promotes Knowledge is itself a reward. Truly. [16:24:36] So, in brief, be willing to spare 2-3 hours a day for a few weeks, 10-16 hours on some days and take a nap for several days at a stretch at some lucky intermissions. :) [16:24:45] I am done with that topic. [16:24:53] Yes & thats where the Election COmmittee will take a decision on what to do with the candidates who did not attend theIRC [16:25:08] Thank you ViswaPrabha for that insight :) [16:25:20] Thank you Viswa for explaining it so well [16:25:27] yohannvt: Whenever the ElecCom sees the IRC logs, can you also point out http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Talk:Elections_2016#Number_of_issues_with_accepted_nominations_for_EC [16:25:29] Thanks Viswa! that was crystal clear and rather helpful! :) [16:25:36] Also, do we have enough candidates on this IRC to make sure that elections happen :p [16:25:50] I made some comments that they are yet to respond to. They said they will :) [16:26:38] Ok, so now moving to the next topic.. [16:27:17] There is another interesting question in the Q&A [16:27:36] How do you plan to attract new Netizens to wikimedia [16:27:45] Has everyone responded to the question before? [16:28:07] I saw three or so responses from the seven people here, maybe [16:28:46] i think past EC members can opt out of the question, since they are already giving their time to the chapter.. [16:29:43] would anyone else like to answer the previous question.. [16:30:19] I will. 1min [16:30:41] I find that many regular users of Wikipedia clearly don't know that they can actually contribute to Wikipedia. The most common question I hear at my college is "How did you become an editor?" I take time to explain to them that it's just a voluntaty work. I think proper spread of information that Wikipedia is editable by everone will have a great effect. [16:31:03] Sorry for the interruption, but due to some commitment to my work i have to leave at this moment. It is nice to see people want to get involved in governance of Wiki as a whole. Wish you all very best for elections. @Election committee Sorry to leave early fro IRC. Good night everybody. [16:31:17] "Netizens", as many of the statistics say, students, housewives, retired men and women, make the most traffic. So I say that if we attract them, almost 75% of our work is done. At the same time, we must not neglect the working. Let me explain one on one, when we take students, many of them spend hours together on various social networking sites which is completely unproductive. So if we are successfully able to motivate them t [16:31:21] To get govt look at high quality work done, we can invite them to some of our events [16:31:36] Thanks Viswa [16:31:38] Also, there are many untapped technical contributors who can well contribute to technical aspects but are again unaware of it. This can be bridged by conducting more hackathons or editathons at various colleges to start. [16:31:38] more contributors. The next thing is housewives, who generally have a feeling of they are being ignored etc. so contributing to Wikipedia and its sister projects can give them an identity and a sort of self-motivation. The same happens with the retired men and women, who would be feeling bored after their work like. So these categories of people will have significantly lot of time to contribute and help the movement. Next to t [16:31:44] And thereby pave the way for right direction [16:32:08] okay.. to save time.. other people who want to answer the previous question can answer.. Meanwhile we can move ahead to the question about attracting netizens [16:32:39] now coming to the question-How would find time for the Chapter?... [16:33:17] Srikarkasyap your suggestions are right [16:33:28] I've already said some of it in my nomination for candidature at http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Elections_2016/Nominations/Shubham_Soni [16:33:48] We have to connect with students and let them learn the art [16:33:51] The best way to start is conducting events at prominent wikipedians' colleges and universities. [16:34:02] Yes [16:34:29] We must let colleges notice a lot can be done [16:34:32] That's because many of their friends already have some basic knowledge of how Wikipedia works. My college is an example. I've already taught around 100 students the basics with an ediathon to our local college wiki. [16:34:35] Basically my response to attracting new members is to look at both readers and editors. Currently the colleges and universities are our largest source of potential contributors to the community, as they are filled with a lot of enthusiastic people who can potentially be really helpful if they start helping full time [16:34:53] I own a business and I can manage my time [16:35:13] By student contributions if only we illuminate them with right key skills and inspire them to think like you do [16:35:57] As I'm figuring out from current experiences, what we need most from each college though, is to get at least one or two points of contacts who are extemely dedicated. That's the only way, according to me, to get a sustainable number of them active for Wikimedia movement [16:36:01] Let me tell my experience at the Universities of Bhopal, Calicut, Gurburga, Tirupati, Sree Sankaracharya (kalady) the experience is different. There are Scholars, Lecturers, Professors with huge subject knowledge unfortunately their computer knowledge is not so good. We have youngsters with good Computer knowledge with less subject knowlege. We have to bridge the gap. Then hopefully miracle may happen. [16:36:34] We started the MediaWiki Club at MediaWiki TTT in February. We already have a chapter of it at my university and students are working on a few popular tools (like OCR) and trying to get better versions of them. [16:36:38] Yes, I completely agree with srikar on the college thing. The same is my case. I have explained how Wikipedia works and all to my friends. So events in colleges would be of great help [16:37:02] A lot of colleges will have students interested but we cant do anything unless they are active for a long while. Colleges are awesome but we need people to help make it a long term collaboration [16:37:43] Media wiki ttt is right intervention and we must do more in different towns [16:37:44] I would like to coordinate various Govt. departments (since I have long experience dealing with than) for there involvement in Wikimedia movement. [16:37:53] Not just in big cities [16:38:20] Suyash it is Noble thought [16:38:38] Let me make it from my experience so far. As for the Chapter's work, the immediate priorities are to get itself going somewhat smooth. The efforts required for that are completely different from efforts required to increase the population of editing community. As we all know, each of us must constatntly try to aspire more new editors and sustain the existing ones, even as a normal Wikipedian or Chapter member. [16:38:38] thanks [16:38:47] Rastrriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Dravidian university are two more universities where I had presentations. The results are coming. [16:39:43] Yes sir, Editors with subject knowlege. [16:39:54] DRcenjary good [16:39:58] There are so many ways we can think of attracting new members to Wikipedia as well as the chapter. But the time we spend here on this chat should more concentrate on the chapter's own existence, sustenance and growth. [16:40:08] Keep up the great work [16:40:59] VISHWAPRABHA YES WIKI INDIA WILL SURVIVE [16:41:12] You can do wonders [16:41:13] @Viswa Agreeing to the thought on sustainence, we can also discuss her on steps ahead on how WMIN can do Fundraising .. [16:41:29] Hope Yohan is asking second question now. [16:41:35] Tell people what Internet could be with your influence [16:41:40] Yes, that's one golden point we need to discuss [16:41:49] (Of fund raising). [16:42:17] I think we can go to the next topic of FUnd raising for WMIN.. What are the thoughts of the candidates on Fundraising.. [16:42:39] Even before, I had proposed some alternate means for WMIN (WMIN is the short form of Wikimedia India Chapter) to raise enough funds for its day to day activities. [16:43:08] Before that, its good for current EC members to let us know what are the current ways the WMIN gets funds [16:43:27] @viswa i think let other candidates talk about their ideas of Fundraising.. before you go ahead.. [16:43:27] Not everyone here is closely connected to know the day to day functioning yet :) [16:43:35] If we were to seek funds from domestic sources (such as volunteer contributions, corporate social responsibility funds etc.) we may have enough funds to be a rich organization. [16:43:57] One of the strange situations that I've come across is, with around 3,000–5,000 active editors working on Wikipedia and its sister projects from the Indic community including English, not many are aware of the existence of the chapter. So we better inform the various noticeboards and village pumps of Indic languages to make the editors aware of the chapter [16:44:09] Oh. OK, Yohann. Saw your line only now. [16:44:52] @soni Our audited statement of accounts is there online in our reports section..Currently WMIN is fully sustaining on WMF funds.. we do not have our own sources of income [16:45:02] also I would also like to motivate as well as make channels to motivate more research Scholars students scientist from eminent institutions [16:45:12] So we have no alternate sources at all. [16:45:17] As the registration fee is also nominal. we can easily attract the editors to join the chapter [16:45:31] The only thing is that they should be made aware [16:45:41] Currently.. NO.. thats why the FCRA is a big issue for us.. We can t get funds from abroad.. [16:45:53] And roughly whats the scale of expenditure from WMIN? Will registering (say [16:46:07] 100 more people) cause any impact on WMIN funds [16:46:39] Because I can personally count at least that many people in different communities who are active Wikimedians but not in WMIN [16:46:41] @soni please check our audite statment of accounts for our expenditure.. We are currently talking about ways to do fundraising [16:46:46] Agree with KC on this one. Making more people aware of the chapter will increase the membership and increase the revenue. Conduction of more events will make the chapter more visibile to local institutions which support these kinds of operations. [16:46:59] You need around 3 to 4 lakhs just for living the chapter. [16:47:30] Membership fees is a meagre 1% of the expenses we can cover. [16:47:44] So just regitering people will be only a small drop in the ocean, unless we get like 1000 members [16:47:50] More offline events drive the visibility of the chapter IMO. Online events may have better participation rates but won't connect to these organisations. [16:48:20] I suggest that the Chapter should come out with interesting stickers which can be purchased by every person associated with Wiki activity. In return the member can sell to others. [16:48:51] You can not sell and be a charity organisation too! [16:49:13] Yes I agree with Dr.cenjary, we can have the merchandize [16:49:19] Cant we? I vaguely remember a number of NGOs selling merchandises [16:49:23] the WMF itself has a merchandize [16:49:35] Let me also elaborate a bit more, what are our real technical difficulties? [16:49:39] I just want to put on record.. WMIN is spending more in sending ballot papers than what we get as membership fees.. [16:50:12] yohannvt: Then should we not make it easier for WMIN members to vote? Vote by mail or some other way? [16:50:25] Shall I? [16:50:30] so membership fees is not a good source of income [16:50:31] For example, Stewards elections etc are all onwiki and private. [16:50:34] In that case, charging up the membership fee is obvious, Rs.100 is no way in these days [16:50:45] ViswaPrabha: Please go ahead [16:50:53] Go ahead Viswa [16:51:05] OK. Let me try to make it brief, but without interruptions. [16:51:14] 1. We need money. [16:51:26] 2. We can get it from within India or outside. [16:51:29] merchandize is a good idea [16:51:39] 3. But we need to abide by all law and rules. [16:52:22] 4. If money is coming from outside, we need to obey/comply/get allowed by the FCRA Foriegn Currency Regulation Act. [16:53:11] FCRA, to correct it is, Foreign Contributions Regulation Act [16:53:57] Merchandise can help a lot to earn revenue, and in India people are really interested in merchandise. The only difficulty is some voluntters, a website and production of these [16:54:16] Sorry, Got disco :( [16:54:21] To continue, [16:54:31] FCRA has two issues: [16:55:06] We need to comply with the rules and go through the very difficult process of government procedures. [16:55:24] We have been tryig to do this ever since 2011. [16:55:26] YES [16:55:38] Everybody has tried to get this done with maximum efforts. [16:56:19] The real intricacies are so much in detail and one can come to know only if we learn the full company law and our situation. [16:56:34] If we have substantial evidence on what society benefits we bring, it will be compelling story is [16:56:42] I second KCVelaga, please go through the Link http://www.cry.org/shop-product/ whenever you have time. [16:56:50] For any money from US, it is also mandatory for WMF to ensure that their donations are gone to a charity organisations. [16:57:08] hi [16:57:33] So, FCRA is a must both from Indian and US point of view. [16:57:59] Now for domestic contributions, we need to be acknowledged as a Charity organisation. [16:58:16] This is called section 12 company etc. [16:58:38] Or else, you will have to pay 30% Income tax for every money you get. [16:59:02] The definition of charity company is too restrictive that we can not easily be within that definition. [16:59:02] okay, lets think about local Charity [16:59:08] Everything will turn out to be OK [16:59:23] So, these are the basic issues we face as for finance. [16:59:32] Am I correct, Yohann? [17:00:11] Am I online? [17:00:42] yes you are Viswa [17:00:43] so are'nt we Charity organisation? [17:00:47] yes viswa..you have summed it up very well [17:00:57] Not yet, according to the rules. [17:00:59] yes Viswa u r online [17:01:20] No, we are currently not a charitable organization.. since we ahve not recieved the charitable status [17:01:44] So suppose we collaborate with an online store for selling merchandise [17:02:01] What happens then? Will it cause problems with our FCRA status [17:02:05] Then you are doing business! [17:02:24] whether we are not willing or any technical issue? [17:02:24] FCRA is a secondary problem. Charity is the first one. [17:02:48] mechandise might be a problem is we are using any logo owned by WMF.. ie Wikipedia logo & Wikimedia logo [17:02:48] ViswaPrabha_: But theres organisations like CRY which also sell merchandise. And a lot of other Non Profit orgs, including WMF [17:03:08] As a charity institution, you are not supposed to 'Sell' things. [17:03:22] Merchandise can have difficult definitions. [17:03:28] yohannvt: Assume we are not using WMF logos. I can think of twenty shirt designs which can work without Wikipedia logo, just with Wiki names [17:03:33] Sorry I was running low connectivity. Now it is rectified. [17:03:43] Do we still have technical issues with selling merchandise, Yohann? [17:03:51] Yes, Soni [17:04:27] Any merchandize should be something defined as 'Not for profit'. [17:04:54] Ah. Got it now. So unless we sell the merchandise without taking profits, we cant sell anything. Right? [17:05:04] In fact, we can not even sell a booklet or T-shirt for 10 Rupees. [17:05:24] Yes, because it becomes a profit venture [17:05:24] At school, College, University we purchase stamp like stickers . Still it is happening. [17:05:25] Hi [17:05:59] yohannvt: And what if we have some sort of MoU for another organisation to sponsor our activities partially [17:06:03] Of course we are not making profit out of it, we will using the revenue for the development of the projects [17:06:24] I want to share a trial fundraising which we are planning to do with the organizers of WLM India. [17:06:25] Soni, then you are doing financial manipulations. [17:06:39] I am asking the legality of it, ViswaPrabha_ [17:07:01] I think we're done with the time [17:07:01] Yes, all I am writing here is with the legal compliance perspective. [17:07:04] Like some organisation donates Rs 10000 to us under CSR. Will that be permissible or not [17:07:10] Can we develop some educational programs and go around India leading a campaign to educate [17:07:22] By Stamps I mean NSS, NCC, Soldiers Day , Army Day etc. [17:07:26] Under Wiki banner [17:08:01] If anyone is willing to donate us from their CSR, it is fine. But they will have to account it not as their claimable CSR donation. They will pay regular tax. [17:08:12] In addition, we will also pay 30% tax on that. [17:09:10] SO , i ll just quickle share what WMIN is planning as a trial fund raising experiment.. [17:09:11] WLM India has some funds left from their last years WLM competition. They are printing Top 10 photos on Canvas & are planning to have a photo exhibition in Dilli Haat. If people know about Dilli haat, they will know that it has one of the argest footfalls in Delhi. So, it is planned that we will show these photos on exhibition & convince people to donate to WMIN [17:09:13] Got it. So we have 30% tax from our side and some percentage of tax from the organisation's side. But it is a valid source of income if we can manage such an MoU [17:09:24] So, to get out of this catch-22 situation is the real problem WMIN EC have been facing right from its beginning. [17:10:04] Thanks Guys, I need to quit now, as questions for me, please post a message on my talk page or mail me at kcvelaga@gmail.com, looking forward for a better future. [17:10:14] So what is the issue in paying 30% tax ? [17:10:28] Thanks KCvelaga for all views [17:10:33] This photo exhibition if sucessfull, we plan to replicate it & it should help us a little in our situation.. [17:10:40] I suggest, all question answers (to the candidates) should really be on the chapter wiki. [17:11:05] It will be a more visible documentation and cleanly presented. [17:11:54] Okay then.. time is 10:40 pm.. & if has anyhting else to mention. i think we should conclude our IRC [17:12:05] Dates of exihibition [17:12:11] Hope all participants have looked at their profiles being accurate [17:12:17] Suyash, No issues in paying 30% tax if we are rich enough to bear with that damage. [17:12:24] If any corrections... [17:12:34] WLM India team will share the dates of the exhibition on the mailing list [17:13:02] thank you sir [17:13:07] thank you everyone for being part of the meaningful discussion.. [17:13:09] Thanks Yohann. Can you also put up a page regarding this at the chapter wiki or elsewhere? [17:13:32] yes, i will be putting this up on the IRC page & the election page.. [17:13:35] (Reg the WLM Dilli Haat [17:13:37] @yohannvt I am also part of exhibition and will host it at Bhopal. [17:13:54] oh.. yes.. we will be putting it up on the WMIN page too.. [17:14:20] @suyash yes.. & WMIN is grateful for your help & support :) [17:14:24] And then let us all give it enormous publicity through our social networks (FB, Whatsapp etc) [17:14:52] Yes, we will... :) [17:14:54] Good idea VISHWAPRABHA [17:15:05] I would say, all of us can still work for the chapter, whether you get elected or not. [17:15:18] Right [17:15:25] ViswaPrabha_: The biggest limitation to that, for a number of us, is knowing how to help [17:15:26] not for fundraising this time , but for awareness about what Wiki is doing other than Wiki [17:15:56] I didnt know about WMIN that well for the first four years of my wiki editing. For the last year, I have been willing to help but dont know how to [17:15:57] The EC is only for taking up the documental burdens. But being willing to be a candidate itself is a privilege and offer. [17:15:59] Like every college has 120 students and only one will top [17:16:16] All others 119 of them still shine [17:16:40] We need some way to try and get more members into activities of WMIN [17:16:57] Not just the same group of people who are always there :) [17:17:26] yes very less know about WMIN [17:17:34] Okay everyone.. im going offline.. i will update IRC & WMIN election page accordingly.. [17:17:40] Thank you everyone for your time.. [17:17:52] It's not that we don't want more members. Every year we have tried to get in more people. But we will need to work beyond that, to get the chapter strong. [17:17:54] Good night all [17:18:00] OK. All right. [17:18:24] ViswaPrabha_: Lets continue this discussion off IRC :) [17:18:36] I am interested in knowing what exactly can be done [17:18:54] Thank you all Good Night. I will be in touch with you all . [17:18:55] yes, we may. But let us keep all communication open. [17:18:59] Good night everybody. [17:19:22] Thank you all for vibrant chat tonight [17:19:24] Good night everyone! Thanks to Viswa and Yohann for quite useful insights [17:19:57] You are welcome. I only hope that I did not steal most of the available time for myself. [17:20:17] Any time we spend for valuable discussion is time well spent [17:20:20] :)