BCDWA to organize expo in December

Shortly after reports flowed in about the upcoming IT destination in Asansol, Bankura is poised to become another favored hotspot for channel partners in West Bengal with the Bankura Computer Dealer's Welfare Association (BCDWA) opting to organize an IT fair in late December.

"Often people tend to overlook the potential of Bankura in the IT space with the state capital shining solely for channels. This fair is poised to prove the potential and the current IT scenario in the area. The expo will be held from December 21-25, 2011," said Rajesh Jajodia of BCDWA. Negating the facts about the gloomy situation in South Bengal, Jajodia added, "So far we have received an overwhelming response from the vendors for sponsorships and participation. We have fixed the cut-off date for sponsorship proposals to November 24 and have already received several confirmations for stall booking."

The venue for the expo will be Zila Parishad Auditorium and bookings are already in place. BCDWA opted to go for the expo in late December primarily to attract the students en-masse as well as the middle income level segment.

"Exams will be over by December as a result of the recent changes in the educational policies and also COMPASS will be holding its expo early next year. Considering the crowd it will pull from the upcountry as well as the vendors busy in participating in COMPASS event, we opted to hold the expo in late December," Jajodia said.

Besides, BCDWA has opted not to focus on selling counters in the expo stating its priority to propagate the usage of IT and change the face of IT channels in Bankura. With a budget of nearly Rs 10 lakh, BCDWA is targeting to bring in state level minsters to inaugurate the expo.

However, no theme for the expo has been finalized yet considering the premiere of an IT expo in the Jangalmahal area. The area is primarily known as a hotbed for Naxal activities with some dealers in Purulia complaining about the dire consequences in business activities on account of the tension. Further, many of the state projects in the area including the Sahaj and kiosk schemes got lukewarm implementation rendering the infamous Jangalmahal area as a sensitive area. However, with the IT expo in the horizon and BCDWA confident of making Bankura a favorable IT destination for the channels, Jangalmahal may soon shed its previous image of being associated with Naxalism and CRPF activities.