For now I am not going to get into other issues, but would like to get clarification on the following:
On Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 6:20 PM Chris Koerner <ckoer...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > Wikimedia India was first recognized as a chapter in 2011. In 2015, it > experienced difficulties meeting chapter agreement obligations. > Working with the Affiliations Committee and the Foundation, the > chapter developed a plan of action and returned to good standing by > 2017. However, between 2017 and 2019 > > > *the chapter was unable to secure a license to act as a fiduciary > organization, and is not currently legally registered as a charity in India > to accept funding from the Foundation*. The Foundation and Affiliations > Committee both hope that > this licensing and registration can be secured, and that the chapter > will again be eligible for recognition. > AFAIK, the Wikimedia Chapter (Wikimedia India) *is* registered as a charitable society under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act. Therefore, it *is* a fiduciary organization acting in public interest. I would like to hear a clarification on your claims above. Further, my understanding is that the Chapter has been unable to renew/secure its permissions under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which prevents it from receiving funds from foreign sources, including the Foundation. This is not a situation unique to Wikimedia India, as more than 20,000 NGOs nationally faced cancellations of their licenses last year due to reasons that have largely to do with politics rather than compliance related issues. https://www.firstpost.com/india/fcra-licences-of-20000-ngos-cancelled-act-being-used-as-weapon-to-silence-organisations-3181560.html If the inability of Wikimedia india to secure these permissions is one of the primary reasons for de-recognition, as a founding member of Wikimedia India and as someone who is largely an external observer, it appears to me that the Foundation is choosing to punish the chapter for not having the political clout to retain its license. For most of its existence, the Wikimedia Chapter has been a volunteer-run body with limited expertise in public policy. Can you please clarify whether the Foundation has extended support to the Chapter in form of, for example, contracting a government relations specialists to help renew/secure their FCRA license? Looking forward to hearing from you. Yours, Anirudh
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