It's finally official, there are only a handful of active associations in
North India. In an exhaustive story that our sister publication, The DQ Channels
has done in its latest issue we spoke to almost 24 associations who are said to
operate in the region. And guess what? We could only come up with three who
could be classified as 'active'. We took the member activity figure from
presidents, executive secretarys and most often while they insisted that the
association was very much active but the work spoke otherwise.
A member of one association that I spoke to insisted that the executive
committee had spent almost 70-80 hours on working for the benefit of the
community, but was at fail to cite one notable achievement. Associations across
UP and there are many, have just re-energized because of the government
implementing excessive tax on them else they have been almost comatose. Take for
example the Uttar Pradesh Computer Dealer's Welfare Association that was formed
with much fanfare. It was supposed to be a state level body, but it has been
almost comatose this year, not doing anything. So why is it that such a
situation arises only in North and not in other regions?
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Shivangi Yadav |
The problem in my view is that many channel associations in North are headed
by much revered people who are considered leaders in the community. So when an
association is formed in that region, they are the obvious choice to lead it or
be a part of the executive council. They start with much fanfare, promising a
lot and trying to roll out various measures but the initial enthusiasm quickly
gives way to disdain.
When business interests clash with community work, the association goes for a
toss. The larger channel base at that moment is left high and dry but there is
little that they can do. The president and the committee have been elected for a
period of minimum one year, so the rest of the members keep quiet. When election
are not held on time, many in community question it but not openly lest to
offend. So what is the net result? An inactive association, a body that should
ideally be working for their benefit, is comatose. But does anyone complain,
very rarely and even when they do it is off-the-record.
Is there a solution? Yes, there certainly is. Ideally if the person who has
been elected president or even a member of the executive council is finding it
hard to dedicate time for association activities, then they should quit. There
are, I am sure people out there who would like to take up the challenge, after
all other associations across the country have managed to find such people. I
have a firm belief-when people are given a challenge and they accept it they are
likely to ensure that they see it to its logical end in contrast to people who
have gotten a leadership thrust on them.
For them it becomes a personal challenge and no one likes losing. So
associations in North should probably try it-after all what have you got to lose
now?
shivangiy@cybermedia.co.in