Bangalore
May 25th, 2007

The Information Technology Traders Association (ITTA) of Pondicherry has elected new office bearers, who assumed office on the 15th of May. The new members include the President- M Mahesh, Vice president - T Sivakumar , Secretary - Rajesh Jain, Joint Secretary - Sridhar and Treasurer - Sivagananam. A six member executive committee would assist the new team in its efforts. Past presidents of the association who include Ravikumar, Suresh Soni and P. N Prasad would serve as advisors to the new team.

Speaking after the election, M Mahesh - President ITTA said, "The new team has planned a lot of new activities. To begin with we will aggressively market the association so that the people in the business know about us and also become aware that they can approach us whenever there is an issue of concern. We feel that there is a need to let more people know of our existence. Additionally we would be setting up a public grievance cell so that any issue of concern can be mutually resolved without partners having to approach the courts."

Indicating that delayed credit periods are a major cause of concern, Mahesh said, "Most distributors get a credit period of fifteen days. But customers in the government and corporate take credit time of a couple of months. Such delayed payments have caused major problems to the people in the business. So the association members have decided to approach the Pondicherry government and find an amicable solution. Probably we would see if some definite time period can be fixed for credit payments. We hope to implement all of this by June this year."

Sharing his thoughts, Rajesh Jain, Secretary ITTA said, "We have just assumed office and we will be chalking out the complete agenda very shortly. Among others things the recent news that some vendors are doing direct sales has caused concern in the community. We shall be talking to these vendors and impress upon them the need to use the channel as a carrier for effective delivery of products to the customer. Meanwhile we shall continue the good work of our predecessors and see how we can get to be more effective."

Commenting on the appointment of the six member executive committee, Mahesh said, "This committee will execute all the decisions that are taken by the association. To put it simply they would be doing the field-work and help us put into practice our decisions." Agreeing with him was Rajesh Jain who said, "The executive committee has members from different areas of business be it branded products or UPS or assembled PCs. They would help us understand the nitty-gritty's of their area of business and help us take relevant decisions."

Another feature of the ITTA is the appointment of past presidents of the association as advisors. This according Mahesh is a strategic move. "Past presidents have been in the industry for long. Their work experience would be very useful to us since they would give us an insight on how to deal with various issues and also how we should take it forward to the people in the government or authority. Also they would help us chalk out best fit solutions to all issues that our partners face."

Page(s)   1