Jamshedpur gets new IT association

Piyali Guha Kolkata, Oct 27

midst much speculation about the four-year-old Jamshedpur IT
Association (JITA) and its last episode during Manthan 2006, the Steel City has
got its second association formed by former JITA members. Called IT Dealers'
Association, the new body has been conceived and formed by some of the
established IT players from the city. The six founder members are Ajay Tiwari
from System-N-Software, Manoj Kumar Singh from Aditya Infotech, Tarak Nath Bose
from Symantech, Sudhir Kumar from Infogate Exporters Pvt Ltd, Ajay Verma from
Soft Point and Abhishek Yadav from Chinmastika Exporters Pvt Ltd. "The main
objective of the association would be to create IT awareness among the masses
and to provide IT products at affordable rates to the people of Jamshedpur,"
informed Sudhir Kumar.

Speaking to members regarding what compelled them to leave JITA
and form a new association, it was evident that the members had grievances
regarding the clarity and performance of JITA. "We were not satisfied with
the way in which JITA was functioning. We decided to leave it due to improper
management and lack of clarity," specified Bose. "In fact it cannot be
termed as an association. It's more like a proprietary firm. And we cannot be
a part of it as it's not a business," he added further. Concurring with
the view of Bose, Kumar said, "JITA has been around since the last four
years. Still it's not yet been registered with the government."
Elaborating further he said, "Unlike any association JITA has never worked
for the betterment of its members or the trade. The main people associated with
JITA were dominating and they never bothered to take feedback during any meets.
We didn't agree with their modus operandi neither with their view or
approach."

It seems the previous association failed to live up to the
expectation of its members though according to Bose the new association is not
competing with JITA or going against it. "Our views didn't match and
therefore we have formed a separate association. We feel that the motive of an
association should not be based on profit but for the benefit of its members and
their concern areas. With this objective only we have initiated the new
body," he said.

On his opinion regarding the issue Amitabh Vidyarthy of Origin
Technologies (President, JITA) remarked, "I have got nothing to say here.
It's their personal view. What I can say is that there have been only a
handful of people who have really shown interest and come forward to deliver for
JITA. Running an association is not an easy job. There is bound to be
differences among members, but that has to be resolved first. And for that,
proper unity and communication is required."

Meanwhile, apart from the six founder members, two more members
have also joined the league-Ashish Ranjan Das and Rajesh Kumar from Mind
Technology. The new association is yet to appoint its President and Secretary,
who will be elected in due course of time. The company has also already applied
for registration. "The process is on and we are expecting the completion of
the entire registration process within the next one month," informed Kumar.

To prove its mettle and to reach out to the channel the IT
Dealers' Association is also organizing a product exhibition—cum-seminar on
November 18-19. According to members, there has been a lack of seminars,
technology workshops and similar activities in Jamshedpur, which is not good for
the future of the industry. The association will, therefore, organize such
events on a regular basis to promote IT awareness. "We expect to see 15,000
to 20,000 people attend the Computer Mela and are sure that it will be very
helpful for end users as well as the dealers," said Manoj Kumar Singh,
Director, Aditya Infotech. The event is being supported by Infogate, a leading
computer peripherals brand in the market. "The Computer Mela will help
customers get best deals with their money. Apart from that, it will also focus
on new technologies and products," said Bose.