Re: Why Was Nepal Denied While Overlapping Grants Were Approved in India?

+1 to this.

DR
English Wikipedia

On Tue, 24 Mar 2026 at 9:37 PM, Pankaj Sharma via Wikimedia-l <
[email protected]> wrote:

> 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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