CCMDA to postpone IT fare

Chhattisgarh Computers Media Dealers Association's (CCMDA) plan to hold an IT
fare in December has received a setback. The association had planned to hold the
meet this year itself, but members have delayed the plan and will now reschedule
it for sometime next year.

Apparently, there are a number of reasons behind the setback. According to
the association, one of the reasons was the lack of a suitable ground to hold
the mega event. The association had planned to hold the event either at Grass
Memorial Ground or Science College in Chhattisgarh, but both the grounds had
prior bookings, leaving the association with no choice. This aside, another
reason the committee resolved to postpone the event was that Chhattisgarh State
Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) had floated a number of contracts,
and partners are busy getting themselves registered and securing their
contracts.

However it appears that the association in itself is not very clear about the
exact reason behind dropping the idea of holding the fare. Sunil Agarwal,
Secretary, CCMDA stated that unavailability of a ground for the expo was the
prime reason behind the fair being delayed. Agarwal mentioned that with no
proper arrangements in place they did not want to hasten with their plans. “We
do not want to organise a fare only for the sake of holding one. Since the
grounds that we thought we would hold the event in were booked in advance, we
had no choice but to postpone the plan. Also, most of the partners are busy with
government projects,” opined Agarwal. He further added that members had not held
a meeting after Diwali. “We will now organize a meetings to keep all the members
informed about the association's activities,” added Agarwal.

On the other hand, Devendra Marwah, President, CCMDA stated that
unavailability of a ground could not have been a reason since the association
could arrange for that easily.

When contacted about the ongoing issue, Chetan Vithlani, VP, CCMDA stated
that he had resigned as VP of the association a year back and was willing to
support the association only as a member. “I submitted my resignation a year
back and am not aware of the association's activities,” mentioned Vithlani.

The committee and the members however were unaware of any such developments.
Stating the same, Marwah said, “I am not aware of that and even if he has put in
his papers, we will not let him leave.” Elaborating on the reason for delaying
the expo, Marwah stated, “Dealers are currently engaged with the CSIDC contracts
and have no time to participate in the fare. Hence we decided to postpone the
event. We might hold it sometime in the month of March next year,” added Marwah.

Interestingly, dealers in the region were unaware of any such information
concerning the setback of the expo. Talking about the same, Deepak Vidhani of
Raipur-based Infotech Solutions stated that every year around Diwali, the
association would organize a fare. But this year they had no such information.
He was also not aware that Vithlani had resigned as VP of the association.
However, Vidhani did admit that participating in the fare was something that
dealers looked forward to as it gave their business a boost. “Maybe this time
the association was unable to rope in major vendors, as it is they who fund such
fairs for us,” speculated Vidhani.

It may be noted that the association had plans to invite Microsoft, Epson and
Zenith Computers, among other vendors, to showcase their products at the fair.