Dear Shyamal, and everyone, I apologize for not responding in a timely manner to your question on the Wikimedia Forum[1]. Since that thread is now archived, and because I don't want to "bury" my respond, I'm responding here, on this list where most of the people who care will read it.
To your question: Vishnu did ask me -- at the time (the delay is all mine) -- about sharing the WMF and CIS agreement publicly. We will not be sharing that agreement, on principle: not because there's anything secret or damning in it, but because we do not want to create a misleading precedent that may set the expectation that all WMF contracts are subject to community review. This isn't, and cannot be, the case. We likewise do not expect chapters or other partners to publicly share contracts. That said, I am happy to answer the question that prompted you to want to look at the agreement, viz. whether the community "really has the right to complain about things like lack of discussions / transparency etc." -- the answer is: yes, of course! The community is our ally in ensuring meaningful work gets accomplished, in India as in elsewhere in the world. We not only "allow", but _want_ the community to review CIS-A2K's work, just like it reviews WMF's work (on more global/technical matters, e.g. the visual editor), Wikimedia India's work, and any other group operating in or around the Wikimedia projects. I believe Vishnu and the rest of the A2K team have been receptive to feedback (even when it included abuse and accusations of bad faith), and it seems to me they have been working to address those parts of that feedback that pointed to genuine deficiencies or oversights on their part. CIS is a grantee of the Wikimedia Foundation; it is an independent organization carrying out work that we want to see done in India, according to an approved work plan. I am the person at WMF responsible for the partnership with CIS, and I am regularly in touch with Vishnu to hear about progress, challenges, and successes. I encourage all community members to continue to engage with the A2K team in good faith (and patience), on Meta, the different language Wikipedias, and mailing lists, as appropriate, to keep the feedback cycle going. IF anyone finds that they have reached a dead end in direct dialogue with the A2K team, I certainly want to hear about it, and, if I find merit in the issue, I can certainly bring it up in my periodic calls with Vishnu and ask for it to be addressed. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me personally in such a case, but only if you've first tried discussing it directly with no result. I hope that answers your question. Cheers, Asaf [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Forum/Archives/2013-08#Terms_.2F_MoU_for_India_A2K_project -- Asaf Bartov Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! https://donate.wikimedia.org
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