The community proposal to host the regional [SAARC Conference in 2026 in
Nepal](https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/Conference_Fund/Wikimedia_SAARC_Conference_2026)
was declined. The reasons provided was the event would be redundant and an
unnecessary expense because a similar conference is planned in India in the
year of 2025. However in 2025 conference in India didn't happened and
surprisingly our proposal was declined beacuse of that. But why.!!!
While Nepal’s proposal was viewed with skepticism regarding our capacity, the
2025 conference in India failed to materialize due to a failure in financial
management and a lack of understanding regarding local FCRA regulations in
India. This resulted in a substantial huge waste of Wikimedia Foundation
resources. It is disheartening that the Conference Grant Program Officer
applied Indian legal constraints as a blanket assumption for Nepal, hindering
our community's growth based on a misunderstanding of our local context.
I have a question: How did the legal situation in India affect the decision on
a proposal of Nepal?
Looking ahead to 2026 I was doubtful by the current grant applications from the
International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad. I see that a
request for 207,000 USD has been submitted for WikiConference India 2026.
Simultaneously, the same individual representing the same institution, has
applied for an separate 87,554.81 USD for an Open Knowledge Conference within a
gap of few months of the first event with same purpose and target participants.
As a Wikimedian this raises serious questions about the equitable distribution
and potential misuse of community resources. While Nepal is told to scale down
and gain experience with smaller events, a single institution is requesting
nearly 300,000 USD for overlapping projects with same people in the
organization role and same theme.
If the Wikimedia Foundation is concerned about redundancy and extra costs when
it comes to Nepal, why is it being overlooked when a single institution in
India applies for two major grants for nearly identical purposes? We need more
accountability and a fairer distribution of resources to ensure that all
communities not just one can grow. We urge the foundation and the community to
investigate these for the benefit of the entire regional community and stop
wasting the resources make the process more transparent and accountable.
Regards,Pankaj
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