Grants talk:IdeaLab/Hindi Wikipedia Outreach

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Outreach[edit]

The following discussion is closed.

Feel free to give more suggestions in new topic

Workshops are not known to be effective at recruiting participants, unless there is very focused selection and tracking of participants.

My impression (correct me if I'm wrong) is that most speakers of languages of India only use computers in English, even though technologies for reading and writing in Hindi and other languages are not too hard to reach. It's a social issue, and not only a technical one.

Looking for people who are able to write in languages of India outside of India is perfectly valid and desirable, but I suggest to focus on searching for a way to find the right people who don't automatically fall back to English for all their studies, writing and computer use. People who love the language and are committed to it and can become relevant opinion leaders. Random workshops for Hindi or Punjabi speakers is not focused. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 14:21, 12 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your input. I agree with you that these workshops should be focused and there should be proper tracking of participants. As per my personal experience while I was on dependent visa, I have came across different Meet-Up groups who are involved in activities that will give them a chance to nurture their technical skills. For example, Blog writing, web designing, etc. Our Meet-Up group recently hosted an activity to document the food recipes and share them mutually. This is one fine example about documentation.
Recently I learned about Marathi Wikipedia and genuinely enjoyed knowledge sharing in my native language. I am looking forward to share this enthusiasm with my fellow group members on social media and my residential Meet-Up groups. Even though we use English for our studies, writing and computer use, still me and my friends personally take pride in sharing the knowledge in our mother-tongue and we do believe there are many individuals based in the USA, who share this mutual feeling. We are putting efforts to channelize a way and focus on specific groups of population. श्वेता कोकाटे (talk) 08:27, 14 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]
You write: "we use English for our studies, writing and computer use". This is the central point: You are free to use any language that is comfortable to you, but this activity must focus on changing these customs, and using Marathi (or other relevant languages) at least for writing in Wikipedia and discussing it in meetups and workshops, without falling back to English. Your plan needs to show a clear focus on that. I understand that it's a complicated and touchy subject, but that is the most important social issue here, and without addressing it I doubt that the project will be successful.
Also, I'd say that at the first stage, focusing on one language is OK. I don't think that it matters which one. --Amir E. Aharoni (talk) 09:10, 14 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]
In consent with Amire80 & श्वेता कोकाटे , yes focusing on one language is a desirable thing to do. Moving this discussion with more updates and happenings since the time gone by. --Abhinav619 (talk) 05:18, 7 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Done - We are focusing on only one language and project is modified for better outcome.
Why New York and USA - There is a strong and diverse Indian diaspora in the NYC. The largest number of non-resident Indians reside in United States of America. We have already received positive support and feedback from NY Indian Embassy, UN Permanent Mission as well as local Wikimedia NYC Chapter.
Why Hindi - Eastern Seaboard has a large number of Indian expats that have either settled there or live there for work/business. This was evidenced by the 20,000+ people attending a speech in Hindi by the Prime Minister of India at Madison Square Garden, New York.
In general, the Indian origin community in the United States has very high literacy rates. They are also well-versed in English as well as Hindi. Access to Internet is not an issue for this demographic. Enthusiasm for advancement of Indic languages is also evident by the many initiatives being pursued by this group. AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:24, 25 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Some problems[edit]

Done - Solved.

The following discussion is closed.

Feel free to ask new questions in separate section

I'm Active user and reviewer on Hindi Wikipedia. In my information hindi wiki dont know about this proposal. No any discussion i local village pump. All endorsement are very old, sice 2014. Community do not know about this. After endorsement that time this proposal is totally changed now.user submitted this high budget request without community discussion.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 16:30, 26 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This proposal came out of Hindi Wikipedia 2014 and 2015 meet-up and national conference. Photos as well as links provided. Apart from that in last two months, updated links were shared on all possible platforms. Sorry if you missed them, I am listing notifications -
Recent Aug 2017 Community Notifications
Community space Reference
Hindi Wiki Village Pump Link
WM Hindi User Group Link
Hindi WM Mailing List Link
Phone Calls/

feedback

Called All admins

on Hi Wiki

WhatsApp Group discussions
Hindi Wiki

Google Hangout Log

Link

Thank you AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:58, 26 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

u provide vilage pump link but there is no ant discussion related about your 48000 doller grant proposel. m asking here to community about this proposel but community do not know abot. also u updated (in grant page) 48000 doller related changes in september. in auguest this proposel is diff.
  • in user group page, you updated your self. only link. no any discussion. i think you are making fraud.
  • admin replyed here, admin is not community.
  • i have in hagout discussin. you taking only abot activity plan. not talking about your proposel. we dnt know you making grant proposel.

so i thiunk its fraud. please withdraw this proposel and next time do not make any grant proposel for hiwiki without community discussion. thanks.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 14:45, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Yogesh-ji (आर्यावर्त),
Interestingly - you were the only person involved in this grant discussion on Hindi Wikipedia Village pump. I am attaching the screenshot in case if you forgot it. Fortunately everything is documented and it is still in Village Pump archives.
You talked about the grant amount and asked for program details, and I shared it (proposal summary in Hindi) - adding another screenshot and VP archive link.
As per as exact amount and timing is concerned - we were negotiating with sponsors and were hopeful about getting 100% however, we got 25% and after receiving confirmation - we updated grant proposal and immediately sent notifications. We are hopeful about getting 100% external support in future after running this pilot project.
I would appreciate if you can provide explanation behind your surprise, is there any misunderstanding? Thank you bringing it to our notice, we have sent another notification with updated grant budget (and Hindi translation) to mailing list as well as Village Pump. Your feedback is valuable and it will help us in future. AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 10:37, 30 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Dear abhishek ji read my responce carefully in this discussion mainteind by you. i have aske you in this discussion no detail about my question. in this duscussion community dont supporting you to make this grant proposel. thanks.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 05:51, 1 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Sir,
I have already answered all your questions, apologies if I missed anything.
As per my understanding, major concerns are already answered :
  • community was clueless ---> I am sorry if you missed it, I have shared links (about several notifications)
  • There was no notification/discussion ---> additional archive links as well as screenshots shared
  • Community discussion is missing ---> Apart from existing Hindi Wiki VP discussions, This space is for community concerns
  • Proposal is in English ---> Hindi Version summary was posted on VP last month
  • Budget was not notified ---> We sent links to mailing list as well as Village Pump after finalizing it.
  • Community doesnt support your proposal ---> We have received support from various community members (except few individual concerns), we take even minor concern very seriously and we are giving our best to answer concerns. We need support from everyone, each and every feedback counts.
  • Currently it is already under community review and we would love your feedback.
Can you please give us some feedback on designed program? How can we make it better? Do you think Hindi Wikipedia can get benefits from mentioned partnerships? AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 09:32, 1 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I have answered your query. This proposal is already under community review. Feel free to express your individual views/concerns and avoid labeling your personal opinion as community decision. This discussion is inactive from more than 7 days and it will be marked as closed after 3 days. You may post new questions in new section. -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 21:14, 16 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]


Questions[edit]

1. Of the 258 million Hindi speakers, as claimed by you, how many are in India? I don't have figures but would I be wrong in guessing that at least 200 million reside in India? With these many people already in India, why should we & the foundation need to spend money on outreach programs outside of India; like the Indian Embassy in New York or World Hindi Secretariat (based in Mauritius)? Isn't focusing within India a better, cheaper, effective and more productive way for progress of the Hindi Wikipedia and other Hindi language based projects? Dharmadhyaksha (talk) 09:36, 28 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Response[edit]

Hi, Dharmadhyaksha thanks for writing. Please find response to your query. The notion that WMF needs to provide more intervention in India is beyond any doubt. Similarly, the idea that state(government) in India should focus more and also extensively in India is also beyond any argument to contest. Still, the Indian state invests abroad (appendix chart listed) and so do we plan. The expicit reasons are listed.

  • India has one of the highest diaspora across the globe. The diaspora is equipped in terms of access to internet, computer etc against capability deprivation cum poverty across India specially Northern India -cum- BIMARU states where Hindi is largely spoken. Yet, uncontestedly intervetions are being made to reap recent decade economic growth dividends and promote Wikipedia. Jaipur program is one such intervention.
  • Hindi is the fourth most spoken language and this figure incorporates lots of Hindi speakers (mostly Indian overseas) who do not reside in India. The invention of Hindi has happened in India and it is a matter of pride and esteem of nation, much more because Hindi as a utility is accepted outside India as well.
  • France for French, Spain for Spainsh or England for English do not advocate for private ownership over their respective language of invention. Infact, it would be a matter of great pride that the Hindi language in terms of utility is widely accepted even though their were no Hindi colonies as against the formers. Also to quote from Maha Upanishad an ancient Hindi text, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam".
  • The local Wikimedia chapters in The United States have welcomed the initiative and provided their support. This would be an opportunity to gain in terms of experience sharing and one-to-one relations.
  • 25% of the financial resources are already borne by the government and there is a possibility for the entire 100% in future.
  • Government of India could also be a potential fiscal sponser in furture, advocacy efforts are already in process. The Government of India invests heavily abroad. May refer to the appendix section. There is a rationale behind why Hindi Secretariat is outside India.

Please feel free to ask for any more clarification. We would be happy to answer them also your experience is vital. -Abhinav619 (talk) 14:42, 28 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Re-Question[edit]

Thanks for a lengthy reply and in it the crux is lost. So asking again; how many people in theory will the outside-India project of yours target? You were very much happy to call North Indian states as bimaru; but how many of those have access to internet? Does the NRI figure outnumber the internet users of Hindi speaking Indians?
Now that you raised cost of living issue; despite knowing that the cost of living in US is high and the chances of inculcating Hindi into the NRI is less; why despite this knowledge, should such high funds be granted? Dharmadhyaksha (talk) 04:21, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2. Now that you have collected so much of data, can you also tell us how much monetary help will be required if a similar project were to run only in India. And also please let us know how much effective an Indian project on similar lines would run. Dharmadhyaksha (talk) 04:28, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

3. You state in your "Goals" section that Wikipedia partnerships with high profile organizations will be aimed. Has a partnership program with not-so-high-profile organization; maybe colleges and schools or Hindi language promoting volunteer groups been done before? How effective/ineffective has that been and for what reasons? Dharmadhyaksha (talk) 04:36, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Re-Response[edit]

Hello Dharmadhyaksha , we regret the inconvenience that you have missed out on the crux. We will address it again, this time via Q&A module. I hope that will resolve your concerns and doubts. In case, it does not please feel to ask them again. We will be more than happy to resolve them.
I am making an attempt to list down all your concerns, I hope, I have not missed on any of them. Please notify me otherwise.

How many people in theory will the outside-India project of yours target?

This proposal is with prime focus on forming partnerships with mentioned organizations. Combined - if successful we hope to reach out to 50,000+ people outside India. This includes outreach at World Hindi Conference organized by World Hindi Secretariat next year.
On an average embassy conducts Hindi classes for 3000+ people every year, this partnership will also give us access to these Hindi passionate population.

You were very much happy to call North Indian states as bimaru; but how many of those have access to internet?

No one is happy to call them BIMARU. If it seems so, I condemn that. BIMARU is an acronym for some of the most poor states in India. The problem is ::not essentially to do with Internet Connection or even rise in literacy levels with schools penetration. As India progress economically its brings ::good fortune and also increases internet penetration. The idea is essentially to do with increasing penetration of Wikimedia Projects out there slowly ::and steadily. This is already happening. 2017 registered the first conference in Bhopal and the 2nd would happen in Jaipur. This is a commendable ::step and must be welcomed.
Even this project is a small step with country specific (United States of America). Slowly and steadily we will expand to other nations where Indian ::diaspora is present such as United Kingdom. But then I would like to reiterate, only slowly and steadily not in a haste.

Does the NRI figure outnumber the internet users of Hindi speaking Indians?

No, they do not. We have explicitly mentioned above,” more intervention in India is beyond any doubt.” We have also mentioned the rationale before on ::why government invests abroad. One may have a question on why government needs to do this, one needs to understand that Indian Diaspora is the highest ::in the world and irrespective they live outside their home in India and they are our part of our culture that includes language. It is for this ::reason, the Indian Constitution under Article 351 says,
“Directive for development of the Hindi language It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language, to develop it so ::that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating ::without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule……”
Indian Diaspora also falls under the composite culture and so government invests abroad.

Now that you raised cost of living issue; despite knowing that the cost of living in US is high and the chances of inculcating Hindi into the NRI ::is less; why despite this knowledge, should such high funds be granted?

Firstly, possibilities of 100% sponsorship still exist. The fact that 25% has already been achieved is a step in that process. On the cost of living ::issue, please understand, it is not sufficient for survival in New York with that limited resources. The reference work on this has already been ::shared before. Hence, the grantee is taking a very nominal amount for survival and would more or less still continue to be associated as a volunteer ::in his capacity. Cost are only for basic expenses.
Secondly, minimal costs are also attained keeping in mind the legislations in New York pertaining to minimum wages.

Now that you have collected so much of data, can you also tell us how much monetary help will be required if a similar project were to run only in ::India. And also please let us know how much effective an Indian project on similar lines would run ?

Impossible due to legalities. It looks great in theory but not possible.
  • Wikimedia India Chapter is registered under Karnataka Society Act and according to Indian Societies Act - all organizations must work as per bylaws.
  • According to bylaws organizations are allowed to work within Indian borders.
  • Apart from that, Chapter needs permission from Ministry of Home Affairs to receive foreign funding (i.e even from Wikimedia Foundation). This ::permission is missing and chapter can not receive funds and hopefully they will receive permission soon.
  • In short - Wikimedia India Chapter can not spend money outside India and even to spend money inside India - they need permission from Government
  • Same thing is applicable for CIS and other organizations.
Because of these limitations, Indian organizations can not spend money or resources to do major work such as working with foreign organizations ::supported by foreign governments.

You state in your "Goals" section that Wikipedia partnerships with high profile organizations will be aimed. Has a partnership program with not-so-high-profile organization; maybe colleges and schools or Hindi language promoting volunteer groups been done before? How effective/ineffective has that been and for what reasons?

There is no attempt to provide any distinction. We refer to highest office. We are in talks with Embassies which fall directly under the Ministry of ::External Affairs, colleges and school still go with a hierarchy. But then, we really don’t intent to sound like that.
On partnership programs - For Hindi Wikipedia, this is the first partnership in general. -Abhinav619 (talk) 14:26, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Big gambling on the only one program[edit]

Done - Solved, it is not gambling and it won't affect other Hindi grants. Additional request for clarifications were directed towards WMF. Answered by WMF Staff.

The following discussion is closed.

WMF also replied back to these concerns below in separate topic. Feel free to ask new questions in separate section

जो व्यक्ति केवल ग्रांट के लिए आते है वो सही नहीं है। उनका योगदान भी होना चाहिए। 28 लाख कोई मामूली रकम नहीं है। मै हिन्दी विकि पर जब से आया हू तब से अभी तक भोपाल सम्मेलन हुआ है जो रैपिड ग्रांट पर था लगभग 1.5 लाखा का। अगर दो लाख का भी हम ओसत ले तो हम 14 सम्मेलन 28 लाख मे करा सकते है। और छोटे मोटे कॉलेज मे शिक्षण भी कर सकते है। यदि 14 सम्मेलन मे 10 मे भी शिक्षण किया और 5 सदस्य प्रति शिक्षण जोड़े तो 50 लोग भी हिन्दी विकि पर बहुत मदद कर सकते है। लेकिन 28 लाख एक ही चीज पर खर्चा करना सही है। एक वैश्विक नीति है कि Don't put all egg in One Basket अर्थात सारे अंडे एक ही टोकरी मे मत डालो। हमे भी केवल छोटे छोटे कार्यक्रम करने चाहिए। और उनमे मिली नाकामी से सीखना चाहिए। 28 लाख का जुआ एक कार्यक्रम पर बिलकुल सही नहीं है। और जो लोग केवल ग्रांट के लिए आ रहे है उन्हे रोका जाना चाहिए।-Jayprakash12345 (talk) 09:50, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Dharmadhyaksha, आर्यावर्त, and Anamdas: Can you translate this one.--Jayprakash12345 (talk) 09:52, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@jayprakash, you are Right. this is big game to recive grant. its fraud. user is not hindi wikipedian. he is coming only for grant related work. also he making fraund, he provide hindi wikipedia village pump like here, buit no any discussion on hindi wiki village pump. community do not know and he directly make request for grant named hindi community.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 14:36, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
नमस्ते जय जी , अगर अनुमति हो तो क्या में आप के प्रश्न का उत्तर दे सकता हूँ| परतंतु इससे पहले में उत्तर दू में यह सपष्ट कर देना चाहता हूँ की में इस प्रोजेक्ट से कोई भी लाभ नहीं ले रहा हूँ| ना वेतन या फिर कोई और खर्च (होटल, फ्लाइट)| मेरी इस प्रोजेक्ट में दिलचस्पी है इसलिए मैंने अपना नाम टीम में लिखा है और ग्रांट बनाने में सहयोग किया है| क्या में उत्तर दे सकता हूँ ? -Abhinav619 (talk) 14:44, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

CC:@Dharmadhyaksha, आर्यावर्त, and Anamdas:

@AbhiSuryawanshi: आप दूसरे व्यक्ति के नाम से भी ग्रांट ले सकते हैं, जैसे राजू जी के नाम से आप ही ग्रांट का व्यवस्थापन कर रहे हैं। अभी सही यही होगा कि आपा ये प्रस्ताव वापस ले ले और आगे से समुदाय की सहमती के बिना समुदाय के नामसे सीधे ही कोई ग्रांट का प्रस्ताव न रखें।--आर्यावर्त (talk) 15:18, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
अभिनव जी, मै आपकी बात समझता हु। लेकिन जो ग्रांट ले रहा है उसे प्रश्नो का उत्तर देना चाहिए। आप या कोई उत्तर देता है और आगे चलकर ग्रांट लेने वाला ही आपके उत्तर को नकार देता है तो हमे मिले उत्तर का क्या लाभ। इसलिए वही दे जो ज़िम्मेदारी ले रहे है। और क्या चोपल पर यह लिख देने से की हम कार्यक्रम करा रहे है से आपकी ज़िम्मेदारी पूरी होती है। न वहाँ ग्रांट का लिंक है और न ही 28 लाख का कोई जिक्र इसको आप क्या मानते है। -Jayprakash12345 (talk) 15:35, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@Jayprakash12345: जी ठीक है | अगर मेरी जवाबदेही हो तो मैं तैयार रहूँगा | माफ़ कीजिए मैंने यह अभी पढ़ा है | -Abhinav619 (talk) 03:27, 30 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

स्पष्टीकरण[edit]

सवाल पूछने के लिये धन्यवाद मैं पूरी कोशिश करूँगा सारी सदस्यों को उनके सवालों के जवाब मिले -

संक्षेप में मेरी समज में यह कुछ सवाल हैं

चौपाल पर जो भी जानकारी दी वह पूरी नहीं थी और सबसे अहम चीज की धन के बारे में चौपाल पर बात नहीं की

जहां तक धन की बात है हमने अभी हाल ही में इसपर फैसला किया है। आप सब ग्रैंड पेज पर देख सकते है की २५% स्पोनसएशिप हमे मिली है और कोशिश जारी है की हम पूरी स्पॉन्सरशिप प्रदान करले। अगर धन की बात को हटा दे तो पूरा प्रपोजल हिंदी में यहाँ हुआ था।

आप सब ग्रैंड पेज पर देख सकते है की २५% स्पोनसएशिप हमे मिली है और कोशिश जारी है की हम पूरी स्पॉन्सरशिप प्रदान करले। आप सब जानते है की सरकारे देर दूरस्थ फैसले लेती है। और यही वजह है देर से डाला। हमने विदेशी राज्य मंत्री से तक बात किया है और प्रयास जारी है। विदेश में हिंदी के बढ़ा-वे का कार्य विदेश मंत्रालय करता है और इस प्रचार पर काफी राशि खर्च भी करता है और वह आप सब देख अपेंडिक्स मे सकते है। जी हाँ देर ही सही हमें धन की बात साझा कर देनी थी। हमने प्रोजेक्ट ग्रांट के नियमो के अनुसार हिंदी मेलिंग लिस्ट पर तुरंत डाल दिया लेकिन चौपाल पर नहीं, हम आगे से ध्यान रखेंगे। हम माफी मांगते है। जहा तक बिना बताये ग्रांट लेना की है कोई भी प्रोजेक्ट ग्रांट बिना कम्युनिटी रिव्यु के नहीं पास होती है। कम्युनिटी को सूचित करा जाता है की ग्रांट सबमिट हुई है। फिर भी गलती के लिए माफी मांगते है |

जो धन माँगा गया है वो बहुत ज्यादा है और उचित नहीं

आप सब को पता है की अमेरिका में और भारत में आर्थिक फर्कः है फिर भी अमेरिका के औसत से बहुत कम है(https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Program_Manager%2C_Non-Profit_Organization/Salary) | अमेरिका से स्पोंसरशिप मिल ही चुकी है और का प्रयास हम कर ही रहे है और भारत सरकार से भी। इसके अथवा में आप को साझा करना चाहूंगा की बाकि प्रोजेक्ट ग्रांट्स के बारे मे भारत से कई प्रोजेक्ट ग्रैंड है और आप आर्थिक अंतर देखे तो हम ऐसा कुछ ज्यादा नहीं मांग रहे है | २२ लांख रुपये लोग हिंदुस्तान में भी मांग रहे है जिसमे हिंदी पर भी काम होगा | खैर प्रोजेक्ट ग्रांट का मकसद पूरा करना उद्देश्य है न की तुलना और हम भरोसा दिलाते है की हम उद्देश्य पूरा करेंगे। कैसे क्या कार्य करेंगे - वो हमने चार्ट वह बुलेट पॉइंट्स से बताया है। कृपया राय दे | इसके अलावा हम यह भी साझा करना चाहते है की बाकी हिंदुस्तानी भाषा पर कितना खर्च किया गया है|


भारत में छोटी छोटी कार्य करना भहतर है ना की अमेरिका या विदेश में कही और

इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि भारत मे और कार्य होने चाहिए। परंतु ध्यान दें कांफ्रेंस और प्रोजेक्ट ग्रैंट दो अलग चीज़ है और कांफ्रेंस ग्रांट पर भी हम आगे आ रहे है। आप सब को पता है कि बहुत सारे भारत के वासी विदेश में रहते है। इनके पास लैपटॉप इंटरनेट की कोई समस्या नहीं होती है और इनकी पहेली या फिर दूसरी भाषा आज भी हिंदी होती है। गौर करे भारत सरकार विदेश में हिंदी पर क्यों इतना खर्चा करे गी और हिंदी सेक्रेटेरिएट देश से बाहर क्यों खोलेगी। क्या भारत सरकार के लिये देश का विकास सबसे पहले नहीं है ? फ्रांस कभी फ्रेंच को , स्पेन कभी स्पेनिश को या फिर इंग्लैंड कभी इंग्लिश को अपने देश तक सीमित नहीं रखता है। अमेरिका के चैप्टर भी इसका समर्थन कर रहे है अगर वो हिंदी को बढ़ावा देना चाहते है तो वह कुछ गलत नहीं कर रहे है हमें उनका आभारी होना चाहिए |

समुदाय के लोगो को भरोसे में नहीं लिया

हैंगऑउट, व्हाट्सप्प, कांफ्रेंस कॉल और चौपाल पर बात तो करी पर लोगो ने जैसे बताया है आगे से वैसे ही करेंगे और चौपाल पर ज्यादा सतर्क रहेंगे | ध्यान दे कम्युनिटी से पूछे बिना कोई ग्रांट नहीं आगे जाती है।

समर्थन बहुत पुराने है और बहुत कुछ बदल चुका है

यह कार्य २०१४ से प्लान किया जा रहा है अगर आप विस्तार से देखे तो सारी हिंदुस्तानी भाषा पर काम करने का इरादा है पर चर्चा में यह साफ़ हुआ की एक भाषा से शुरू किया जाएगा। हिंदी इस लिए क्योंकि भारत सरकार विदेश में हिंदी पर बहुत काम करती है और हम चाहते है की फाउंडेशन का पैसे कम से काम उपयोग हो।

अगर कुछ चीज़े रह गयी हो तो ज़रूर बताये और एक बार फिरसे माफ़ी माँगना चाहूंगा। AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 22:12, 29 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Notification to endorsees for updation in proposal post their endorsements[edit]

Hello fellows and thanks for your endorsement to this Grants proposal. But you are being notified now that the project which you had endorsed has been edited on 25 September to actually include the grant figures now. Your re-endorsement/comments are hence requested. Dharmadhyaksha (talk) 04:57, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@अभय नातू, Pallaviagarwal90, Dsvyas, Harej, Yohannvt, Djembayz, श्वेता कोकाटे, Suyash.dwivedi, Sukeerti.Bhopal, Swapnil.Karambelkar, Shreya.Bhopal, Vijay Tiwari09, राजू जांगिड़, Abhijeet Safai, and Shangkuanlc:
Thanks a lot! I am aware of the developments and I congratulate Mr. Abhishek for all his efforts for the proposal including budget. I support the budget. Thank you. -- Abhijeet Safai (talk) 05:06, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
In fact I will be editing the proposal for possible grammatical and formatting errors as I will get time. Thank you. -- Abhijeet Safai (talk) 05:08, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Everyone is free to criticize the proposal. But I can see that some people have tried to make personal attack on Mr. Abhishek by saying that he is a fraud! I would like to bring it to their attention that this is highly unacceptable and I have felt a lot bad by these kinds of personal attacks. Please note, I have no issues if the proposal is criticized. In fact that is expected. But I do not see any point in personal attacks. I would suggest people who have made personal attacks to apologize. Anyone who comes with any kind of interesting and useful proposal is welcome. Anyone who comes up with such a proposal will receive support from me. Thank you. -- Abhijeet Safai (talk) 05:12, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@Abhinav619 and Abhijeet Safai: There is some confusion about fraud comment. It is meant for submission and not for person. After reading Hindi translation, it is quite clear that meaning was lost in translation. As per Hindi comment, it meant deceptive ways were used to submit this grant and community was not aware of proposal. Respective person has apologized indirectly by providing logic behind fraud word usage. It also happened due to lac of awareness and misconceptions about Project Grant. WMF clarified Project Grant functioning recently on this page and hopefully it will answer all queries. Fortunately nothing is hidden in Wiki-world. The community is aware of this proposal and they are actively asking questions. Notifications were sent before as well as after eligibility confirmation. Thank you for support and discouraging personal attacks -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 22:01, 16 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I believe that Foundation Staff would automatically take a note of the signatures before they approve the project and sanction the amount. In case, there was a foul intention, time stamp could have been altered or sock-puppet accounts could have been generated. Why this didn't happen?It seems that anyone can buy an aeroplane here by fooling the community. Anyways,Dharmadhyaksha to make things transparent the entire discussion has already been moved to the village pump some 4 days back, you were participating out there and may like to check the responses out there in Hindi as well. At last, Community review process begins on 4th October.It is too my observation that some editors are correlating this project grant as a rapid grant.They are different.I too don't support the idea of personal remarks. -Abhinav619 (talk) 09:15, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]


Thank you everyone for your comments and the support. I am a student dentist at Virginia Commonwealth University and I can provide offline on ground support in Washington DC and Virginia. Proposal is in a good shape now, great to see 25% external support. श्वेता कोकाटे (talk) 11:46, 4 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

A very well written proposal[edit]

I am not much aware about other proposals, but seeing this proposal, I must say that it is a very well written proposal. Thank you. -- Abhijeet Safai (talk) 05:43, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Eligibility confirmed, round 2 2017[edit]

This Project Grants proposal is under review!

We've confirmed your proposal is eligible for round 2 2017 review. Please feel free to ask questions and make changes to this proposal as discussions continue during the community comments period, through 17 October 2017.

The committee's formal review for round 2 2017 begins on 18 October 2017, and grants will be announced 1 December. See the schedule for more details.

Questions? Contact us.

--Marti (WMF) (talk) 02:19, 4 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Community questions to WMF[edit]

The following discussion is closed.

Done - WMF Answered following questions. Community members can ask more questions in new section.

Hello @Mjohnson (WMF):and team, Hindi Community is having few doubts. I have compiled all questions and translated them. There is some confusion on how Project Grant works. It would be great if you could explain them.AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 04:19, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

'This one grant budget is equivalent to 10 Rapid Grants, if approved - does it mean that next 10 or more Hindi Community grants will be cancelled?

(Many community members would like to know about it as they are planning to apply rapid grants in future)

Receiving a Project Grant does not impact the number of Rapid Grants a community may apply for. We are currently considering a cap on the number of grants an affiliate (user group, chapter, thematic organization) or group of individuals can have at one time due to concerns about capacity issues. However, as long as there are qualified community members who want to run a project, we are happy to accept and review their Project or Rapid Grant applications. Please note that any individual or group of individuals can apply for a Project or Rapid Grant -- they do not have to be members of a user group.

'What are parameters for giving out grant? If someone gets 100 endorsements for low quality project and other person gets only negligible endorsements for quality project, which Project will be chosen? is it based on votes?

(There are concerns about lobbying and influencing others to receive grant, few members asking for money/commission to support and endorse and few offering incentives to oppose grants - personal attacks are made)

There are a lot of considerations that go into reviewing and approving a grant. Project Grants go through an intensive review process that includes the Program Officer, a grant review committee made up of Wikimedia volunteers, as well as input from additional experts both at WMF and the Wikimedia community based on the project. You can see the committee scoring rubric here. You can read about the basic selection criteria for a Rapid Grant here. The endorsement section is used to get a quick pulse of how well the applicant has reached out to their community and if there is support. We appreciate any constructive criticism on the talk page since that type of feedback warrants more discussion. The endorsements section is in no way a voting mechanism and plays a relatively small role in the evaluation of the grant. There has been some confusion about this section and we are re-thinking how and if it should be used in future rounds.

'What is the maximum limit for Hindi Community to receive grants?

(Community members want to choose programs accordingly)

There is no limit currently on the number of grants a community can receive. However, as noted above we are thinking about a cap for the number of grants any individual or group can have running at one time due to capacity concerns.

'WMF will transfer big amount in personal bank account?

(Few community members want to know how these grants are given and what happens after approval)

Project Grants are awarded in two installments -- the first half is given upon signing of the grant agreement. The second installment is given after review and approval of the mid-point report. All grantees are required to provide expense documentation for their grant.

'How many grants can be given to one individual from Hindi Community?

(This will also help other members to plan their own grants)

Please see answers above.
Hi AbhiSuryawanshi. Thanks for making the effort to translate the questions. I will insert the answers above. Best, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 03:18, 14 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Note : Following questions were posted before WMF official response and they are mostly answered above.

Hello @Mjohnson (WMF)::, I see that Grant is now qualified for Round 2. I don't know what did parameter you taken. But I want to tell you something.
  1. In grant, grantee wrote that this event is organized by Hindi Wikimedians. But I am the member Hindi Wikimedians. And there is no official discussion to organize this event. So how are you sure that this event is organized by Hindi Wikimedians User Group. AbhiSuryawanshi Can you give the link of User group Discussions to wmf Members?
  2. In some time before grantee wrote that He contracted with Hindi Wiki Admins. But here I want to tell that most of Hindi Wiki Admins are anonymous. So how grantee contracted them? And One Admin told on Local Village Pump that Any Personal talk reflect his personal opinion, not Community. So How Much you sure about information which was given by grantee?
  3. See Endorsements, How much you sure that Endorsements are right? I am Reviewer on Hindi Wikipedia. And I don't know Most of the Endorsements User. Because 70% Users are not Belong the Hindi Wiki Coummity. And Left 30 Users are not Contribute Regularly. Only आर्यावर्त, Raju Jangid, Swapnil.Karambelkar, Suyash Dwivedi is the regular Contributor. So How much you sure that Endorsements are right? Most of the Local Wiki Community Members are not supporting.
  4. Most of the Endorsements are very old. Many things are changed including adding Budget. So what you think about that?
  5. See Hindi Wiki Local Village Pump Archive. The grantee told only that He is thinking that One event should be organized in New York. But There is no Grant link and budget provide by him to the community. How much you sure that this ise right?--Jayprakash12345 (talk) 04:45, 11 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Mjohnson (WMF): This is Donator's Money. Please Don't Waste on Fool Grant. --Jayprakash12345 (talk) 04:50, 11 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ashish Bhatnagar, Suyash Dwivedi, Anamdas You are the contract person of Hindi User Group. Here Please Clarify that Is Hindi Wikimedian User Group orgnizing this event. If yes Where you Disscus this with User menbers.--Jayprakash12345 (talk) 12:18, 11 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I Think This is a Big cheating and foundation member also support this. so i have stop editing on wikipedia. becouse lots of cheating found in this grant proposal. i am one of reviewer in hindi wikipedia.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 11:03, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
About cheating - Reviewers, administrators as well as general editors edit because they are passionate about Wikimedia projects. WMF as well as general Wiki community always discouraged paid editing. This proposal is 'not about editing', this proposal focuses on forming partnerships with various organizations for betterment of Wikimedia projects. Apart from that, silence does not mean cheating or bad intentions - it simply means people are busy and they need time to reply. I hope it is clear now and now we would like to hear your feedback and constructive criticism on this proposal. Do you think partnerships will help Wikimedia communities in general? - AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 15:42, 15 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
its clear if you withdraw this request and after do not make any grant request name of hindi wikipedia without pre community clear discussion. thanks.--आर्यावर्त (talk) 14:00, 16 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Community notifications were sent on time, it is still open for community review. Other community members are posting their questions, and we are answering them as soon as possible.
Feel free to express your individual views/concerns and avoid labeling your personal opinion as community decision. -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:20, 16 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Pilot Projects and Impact[edit]

Hi @AbhiSuryawanshi: First of all, it's so good to see such a well thought out plan for outreach in Hindi. The plan is ambitious and I like that about it. I would like to ask you if you have conducted any pilot projects prior to this grant request?

  • If yes, then I would like the pilots for the mentioned activities to be linked to the original grant request along with their impact.
  • If not and if this acutally is the pilot itself (as you have mentioned in the grant request), then IMHO it is better to start small as pilot projects are meant to be small and then you can scale up.

--Satdeep Gill (talk) 10:56, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @Satdeep Gill:,
Thank you so much for reviewing our proposal. We would be more than happy to answer your questions.
This is an extended Pilot project, in 2014 and 2015 we were in touch with Hindi Rajbhasha Dept, Govt of India. They offered us support and resources :and were able to host 1st event Hindi Wikipedia Conference in Delhi. We never got an opportunity to utilize these resources and form official :partnership. You may find WMF blog about previous Hindi Conf here. Apart from that, I was contacted in 2016 by Ministry of External Affairs in New York on Indian Independence Day Celebration and we discussed possibility of Wiki collaboration with Hindi organizations with the help of government.
This proposal is also a result of WikiConnect Project. We are having various conversations at different Wiki and non-wiki events from last 3 years. All these collaborations/conversations and meetings happened without any grant support and now we feel that it is time to move forward with dedicated personnel so more Wikimedians can get benefit from Govt of India partnership.
About scale -
Our proposal targets only 5 main organizations mostly based in one city and there are 1000+ organizations which promote Hindi and/or directed by the Government of India to promote Hindi.
The Indian Constitution under Article 351 encourages all government entities to promote Hindi language in India as well as abroad. If you combine all these, then this project is having huge sustainability and scalability even without WMF funding in the future. Current proposal is having 25% sponsorship and next step could be full sponsorship.
After this pilot project - Government might consider implementing similar program in other Indian Embassies (Govt of India is having Consulates in all major countries for issuing VISA and promoting Indian culture abroad). World Hindi Secretariat is also expanding its operations soon and we feel that this is a right to launch our pilot project. AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 08:35, 14 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from bluerasberry[edit]

Hello.

I am an experienced Wikipedia editor. I live in New York City. I collaborate with Wikimedia New York City, a regional Wikimedia chapter. I am American, but I have lived in India for over a year, and मैं थोड़ा हिंदी बोल सकता हूं, पढ़ सकता हूं और लिख सकता हूं. I have collaborated with one of this project's organizers, Abhishek, since 2012 on various wiki collaborations between India and the United States. I am a supporter of this project because I feel that there is a large Indian population in New York City as well as Hindi language initiatives at embassies, the United Nations, and similar international organizations based here.

Assets which I think that Abhishek brings to this project include the following:

  1. He has Indian nationality, but also he understands American culture 100%. He has lived in India with Indians, worked in India with Americans, lived in America with Americans, and worked in America with Indians. Abhishek is multicultural in a way that even most professional diplomats from India are not. He has a rare skill set of being able to talk with complete clarity to both Indian people and Americans. This is a valuable skill which Wikipedia needs.
  2. New York and Boston are not easy places to live. Most American people do not find these places comfortable because of the pressure, cost, and pace of life. Abhishek is a person with an urban skill set and good balance between his work and life. He has been living here as he has attended graduate school and is capable of managing any stress, problem, or project. He has the mindset of a businessperson and is a powerful negotiator.
  3. Abhishek knows Wikipedia, the Wikipedia community, and has a good relationship speaking for the local Wikipedia community in New York and Boston
  4. Abhishek has basic Western-style business and nonprofit management skills, including metrics collection, reporting and documentation. It is very unusual to find people from India who are interested in Western business style which is much different from the Indian way of doing things. It is racist, prejudiced, and unfair that the Wikimedia Foundation requires Western-style documentation and reporting for grant funds, but that is just the way things are at this time, and in fact, the world is currently just unfair in that most multinational projects with United States based staff require United States style business management even for foreign projects. We all know about this problem, and every year the WMF provides more support to make the funding process more accessible to people of more cultural backgrounds. I feel that the WMF does a better job at this than any other international organization and is doing more to address the problem, even while I see that the problem still exists. I wish that somehow it could be possible for the Wikimedia community to manage projects in the style of every culture, but for now, everything is managed in a way that is easy for people in the United States to understand, so project managers have to understand United States culture. Abhishek understands United States culture, so unusually, he is one of the Indian people who will instinctively report and document what the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia community demand without having so many cultural misunderstandings. The biggest misunderstanding that I see from Indian people is the mistake of not applying for funding, when it is there and available.

Here are some general challenges I see with the Wikimedia community in India:

  1. There is a huge amount of in-fighting in India for Wikimedia community funding and recognition. Whereas in other countries, people in a country tend to support each other, in India the Wikipedia community tends to perceive that anyone getting funding or support or recognition is in competition with other wiki organizers and projects in India. I do not think this is the case. I think that there is an unfortunate history in foreign intervention in Wikipedia organization in India. I think that both the community of Wikipedia chapters and the Wikimedia Foundation have made mistakes in partnerships with India, and have done things by mistake which have encouraged infighting, but no one anywhere in the wiki world wants anything other than success for the Wikimedia community in India.
  2. There is a perception among Indian Wikipedians that funding from the Wikimedia Foundation is scarce for India. I do not think this is accurate. My view is that the global Wikimedia community and the Wikimedia Foundation feel that India is requesting less funding and support than it should. India is about 16% of world population, and because the Wikimedia community promotes equality, I think that everyone would say that 16% of Wikimedia community funds are supposed to go to India. The correct amount for India to request is crores of rupees per year, when actually for the past few years the amount has only been a few lakhs for the entire country. It is absolutely crazy that Wikipedians in India do not request more, because the money belongs to India and because everyone internationally wants more Wiki projects to happen in India. I am not sure what sorts of projects should happen, or where they should be centered, or who should lead them, but I would like to see more smaller projects everywhere in India begin to grow, and for India to develop dozens of good leaders all organizing their own projects in various subjects and regions and with different organizations.

Here is what I would like to see come out of this project with Abhishek and team:

  1. I want any good project to come out of India and promote Indian culture
  2. I want better relations between Wikipedians in India and any other countries. The United States is just one country, but I wish that Wikipedians in India could get support from every other Wikimedia chapter and collaborate with every country.
  3. I want Wikipedians in India to have a good relationship with international organizations in New York. In lots of ways, New York City has is an Indian place. There is a huge Indian community here. Many Indian diplomats come here. More than anywhere else in the entire Western Hemisphere, Hindi language and other Indian languages are spoken and taught in this city. Bangla is one of the official government languages of New York City, so for example, people living in New York who know Bangla but not English can still vote here and do other civic activities. I know that Abhishek's focus is Hindi which is useful, but this is a city with Indian language programs.
  4. I think that having a few partnerships with big organizations in New York City will make it easier for anyone else to establish partnerships with smaller organizations anywhere else.
  5. Abhishek has already organized some Wikipedia activities at the Indian embassies to the United States and United Nations. These relationships have a lot of value.

Here are some misconceptions that I see about this project:

  1. Some people are saying that Abhishek is requesting a lot of money. I disagree. By New York standards, it is not much. Anyone who makes less than US $68,000 (44 lahk INR) per year is eligible to apply for charity housing. 44 lakh rupees per year in India is a lot, and in India no one would say that people earning 44 lakh a year need charity assistance. In the area where Abhishek would be arranging training, a person cannot afford housing by themselves comfortably. Small apartments (700 square feet, 2-3 bedroom) an hour away by public train cost about 20 lahk/year to rent. I know, because there are piles of garbage all around where I live. Below that amount of money it is difficult to live here, and Abhishek is proposing to work with organizations in this area. I think that it is generous for Abhishek to even try to work in this space with such little funding. It is crazy expensive here. This project is not asking for luxury or nearby living expenses, but just sufficient funding to take public trains to the area and give typical presentations and workshops.
  2. Some people are saying that New York City is not an Indian place. New York City is an Indian place. It is not India, but India has great ties with this city, and lots of Indian business and projects come through here.
  3. There is no competition for funding. More than anything else, I want to see more people and organizations applying for Wikimedia Foundation funding to do projects for and with India. To me, I think that the biggest barrier to applying for more funding is getting appropriate grant training to India so that more people would apply. Since WMF only accepts grants written in the style of Western culture, that means that grants written in the style of Indian culture typically are not funded. For this reason, and not for limited funds, more money is not going to India.
  4. Some people say that all WMF funding to India needs lots of voting from Wikipedians in India. I disagree - I think that Indian people are much more critical of projects related to India than is necessary. Germany, England, France, and the United States have few people and get lots of funding with no effort. India has more people than all of those places puts together and yet the general wiki community in India gets less than 1% of the money that those places get. There is no reason for that, and no competition. I want all sorts of people to apply for all sorts of project funding for and about India.

I will not say that Abhishek is the best person, or the only person, or the last person who should get Wikipedia funding. But he is one of the few people who definitely has tried to do international wiki projects, and who has been organizing wiki projects since at least 2012, and who is capable of doing United States style bureaucracy. If there is anyone who thinks that they can do better than Abhishek, then instead of opposing his project, I wish that they would start their own and ask for funding. I wish that India had several dozen people who would ask for the funding and start things. When funding goes to America 200 rupees buys a cup of tea. When 200 rupees go to India that can buy a lot more than tea for one person, but still, without discussion or starting somewhere, even more years will pass with India getting very little money. This is a modest project for what it proposes. I want the precedent and the journalism which this project would generate. Blue Rasberry (talk) 15:50, 17 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Objections of Hindi Wikimedians User Group[edit]

Done - Resolved. Additional notes added at the end of the discussion.

The following discussion is closed.

Feel free to ask new questions / raise objections in new section


@AbhiSuryawanshi, KHarold (WMF), Mjohnson (WMF), आर्यावर्त, स, Jayprakash12345, Suyash.dwivedi, Ashishbhatnagar72, Dharmadhyaksha, Abhinav619, Abhijeet Safai, and Bluerasberry: Several discussions about several objections have been done at several places regarding the doubts/questions/objections raised by members of Hindi Wikimedians User Group in particular and Hindi Wikipedia community in general. Few queries were raised by me personally also. I am fairly convinced regarding my queries, which were mostly related to a doubt whether this grant will affect our other activities in India or not. Call with Kacie Harold (held in context of proposed Delhi Conference) helped in clearing many doubts and so did the comments provided by Blue Rasberry above. For clarification of other members who raised queries but could not participate in the conference call with Kacie, I would like to summarise that It was clarified that this grant will not affect any other grant we apply for conducting any programmes in india. However, there was a mention of ongoing discussions at foundation about placing a cap on number of grants that can be issued to a single usergroup. Though the same is not final yet, still we should keep this in consideration. Also, many members have objected that the community and user group were not properly consulted before finalising the proposal. Though personally I have confidence on experience and abilities of Abhishek, yet I have noticed that other members have still not clarified whether they agree with this or not. Let us consider that they are still not confident. We should understand that this usergroup is quite new and the members do not have enough experience to handle or support such a big (i.e. from their perspective- theory of relativity) grant, and the grant is so big that it has let out an emotional outburst. Even expressing support is equivalent to take moral responsibility, and members have been honest enough to declare their inability openly to take direct or indirect responsibility for the same. Mostly, their objections can be summarised as presently insisting on taking more experience from smaller events/projects before proceeding to a big event.

Adding the above two aspects, I suggest that removing the name of Hindi Wikimedia User Group from the grant proposal will effectively resolve the issue. Let this grant proposal be in the name of Individual/group independent from the Usergroup. This will relieve the usergroup members (mostly inexperienced) from the tough situation/dilemma of taking direct or indirect responsibility for a big grant being given out of donors' money. Presently, let this be only a learning experience for usergroup members of India and Let the proposal go ahead on its own. --Anamdas (talk) 03:20, 19 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Now Hindi Wikimedians User Group's Contract Person Anamdas declared that This grant is about to Individual. Remove the name of Hindi Wikimedians User Group from grant.--Jayprakash >>> Talk 18:01, 19 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thank you for sharing your thoughts and suggestions. For legal reasons - this is an independent grant proposal and not dependent on any organizations based in India. I would like to summarize the bigger problem and extensive background of responsibilities - All Wikimedia affiliates, chapters, usergroups as well movement partners based in India need permission under FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010) from Ministry of Home Affairs to receive foreign funding (i.e even from Wikimedia Foundation). This FCRA permission is missing and usergroups/wikimedia-affiliates can not receive funds and hopefully they will receive permission soon. Apart from that, they can not spend money outside Indian borders due to constitutional limitations. We identified this problem few weeks back. Fortunately, we have received support from U.S based Wikimedia Chapters and fiscal partners.
I personally had conversations with senior community members who were worried about this complicated concern. Responsibility sharing is a completely valid legal concern and we have resolved it by removing India-based usergroups from this grant request. We are thankful to volunteers who agreed to help us in their individual capacity. We wish to execute this project under U.S based experienced Wikimedia-affiliates and fiscal sponsors. --AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:16, 20 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion[edit]

@AbhiSuryawanshi:- As the proposal has evolved through a long time spanning into years, I suggest that the endorsement section should be divided into two parts to separate opinions taken prior to finalising this grant proposal from those taken after the finalised proposal. Regards. --Anamdas (talk) 07:16, 21 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Anamdas: -
  • This proposal was created in IdeaLab and please have a look at 'How IdeaLabs work.' Each idea page has an "endorsement" section, where people can express their support for this idea. The endorsement section is not for votes/opposition; if you don't like an initial idea or finalized idea, and want to express concerns or suggest improvements, you can do so on the Discussion page.
  • All members associated with this grant were notified after submitting the proposal. All community members who endorsed - were specially mentioned. Updated budget was highlighted.
  • Like a Wikipedia article - this proposal evolved because of suggestions and inputs from various community members. We are following IdeaLabs protocols. We have notified everyone, they have acknowledged that they are okay with changes. You can find these in separate section above. On IdeaLab, mostly people remove their name if they are uncomfortable and we will respect if someone wants to alter their views. Fortunately almost all community members 've shown their support for final submission and we are fortunate to have diverse community support. -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 09:46, 21 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Message for WMF (grant)[edit]

Hello, As You can see that Now neither community nor User Group is supporting grant. This is now an individual grant. If wmf want to approve this grant. then remember some points which are:

  1. This is an individual grant. And not having community and user group support. So in this grant, Neither community nor User Group will not take any responsibility. Here responsibility means both Direct and morality.
  2. If wmf want to approve this grant. then wmf need its own monitoring system for this grant. Because community and user group is no longer with this.--Jayprakash >>> Talk 08:44, 21 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Comment Comment - Dear Jayprakash >>> , As I have already mentioned earlier, you are welcome to express your individual opinions/concerns, but avoid labeling your personal thoughts as community decision. Community members have already supported this proposal in their individual capacity. -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 22:19, 21 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello @AbhiSuryawanshi: This is not our individual opinion. Please do not try to show this is our individual opinion. In this grant endorsement mostly supporter is not Hindi Wikipedian. Only user raju jangid is hindi wikipedian but his endorsement is old and he support only for idea. User jayprakash, स and me are reviewer on hindi wikipedia, we voted oppose. User suyash.dwivedi is also hindi wikipedian and member of wikimedia india chapter; he withdraw his endorsement and He say this event is not related with user group. Also hindi wikipedian not supported this grant proposal but we are voting opposite. In this situation this is not belong to the hindi Wikipedia. Hindi wikipedia is not responsible for this grant and maintenance. This is your individual grant. So you and WMF is responsible for this. Thanks.-आर्यावर्त (talk) 03:17, 22 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hello @AbhiSuryawanshi:, As आर्यावर्त told that the Only user raju jangid is Hindi Wikipedian but his endorsement is old and he supports only for the idea. User आर्यावर्त, स and me are the reviewer on Hindi Wikipedia. We are opposing. A thing more which I want to tell that I see some pattern in Grants. You are supporting Some user's grant. And They are supporting your grant. And your most of Grant's Endorsement coming from Other Wiki Which is totally unrelated from Hindi Wiki. Like User:अभय नातू, User:श्वेता कोकाटे from Marathi Wiki. User:Abhijeet Safai from English wikipedia. And By the way Why are you not Removing Hindi Wikimedians User Group Name.--Jayprakash >>> Talk 04:07, 22 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@आर्यावर्त:, @Jayprakash12345: :
  • About your community comment - Kindly provide link to community collective decision (any public domain link where community decision is mentioned)
  • About responsibility and potential solution - We do agree responsibility is big part, specially when strict government rules are in place. Many usergroups as well as chapter in India are waiting for FCRA. We will follow rules outlined by Government. If approved - No one from Usergroup/Indian organization will be legally responsible for managing foreign funds. We will follow and respect Government of India's FCRA Rule.
    In fact, this proposal is about forming partnerships with Government and we will be extra careful while execution. We have received support from experienced U.S Wikimedia affiliates and Fiscal sponsors, they will help us to navigate and monitor the progress.
  • About status - This grant is independent because of legalities and constitutional limitations (reasons explained above).
  • About usergroup mention - Hindi Wikimedians is a general term and do not get it confused with Hindi Wikimedians User Group name. It is updated on main grant page long time back.
  • Request for feedback on grant page content - We would love to hear your thoughts on how we can collaborate with government agencies to promote our Hindi Wikipedia. Do you think it is a good idea? -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 21:22, 22 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Message for WMF (grant) is for WMF. I'm finished my concern. Now Grant is Between you and wmf. WMF approve the grant or not, I have kept my word. As i said before wmf need its own monitoring system for this grant. Because community and user group is no longer with this.--Jayprakash >>> Talk 10:19, 24 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Could you please add proof/references to your claims and/or message? You repeatedly said it is a community decision without any basis. If it is not your personal opinion, then please share community discussion/decision link.
Apart from that, Kindly have a look at updated endorsement list as well as at VP. Experienced (Hindi) community members have extended their support. -- AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:50, 24 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@आर्यावर्त and Jayprakash12345: I find a mention about me. Yes, I have endorsed this grant in its idea form but well aware about the subequent developments including grant. I have also participated on the village pump a bit, while I have been following the remaining discussion on the village pump. --Raju Jangid (talk) 05:10, 26 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Questions[edit]

@AbhiSuryawanshi: Thank you for submitting this proposal and for your efforts for promoting Hindi Wikipedia. I have several questions on your grant proposal:

  • Risks. You state that no organization wants to be the first to take risks with Wikipedia. Why do you think that the approach of starting with bigger organisations will work? What will happen if some or all organisations will not take risks with Wikipedia, do you have any alternative plans?
  • Sustainability. You state that the major outcome of this proposal will be forming an initial partnership with these organisations. I agree that initial partnership is a significant asset, but how are you planning to use this after the end of the grant? How will you make sure that these partnerships continue when you will no longer be a programme manager of this programme?
  • Volunteers. Your programme relies on a significant contribution from experienced volunteer Wikipedians. On one hand, you mention that this is a scarce resource (few (less than 50) active regular editors). On the other hand, you will need a lot of volunteers, and in different locations, including the US (Consulate of India in NY, trainings for US-based medical students), India (Raajbhasha and others) and Mauritius (World Hindi Conference 2018). How are you planning to recruit these volunteers, given that your initiative does not seem to be supported at least by a significant part of the community?
  • Workshop spaces. It is not clear how you will manage workshop spaces. On one hand, your proposal includes budget for 5 spaces, what kind of workshops (students, staff, Hindi learners...) will that be and where (India, US, elsewhere)? On the other hand, one of your targets is a donation of workshop spaces by partner organisations, do you have an idea who will use these spaces?
  • Targets. Why do you target only 45-50 new articles? You target recruiting about 200 people, I assume most of them will not become active Wikipedians, but why do you expect only 1 in 4 will actually edit something?

I would also like you to clarify the different types of activities you are planning and involvement of participants in them:

  • Workshops in the Consulate of India in New York. What level of Hindi do these people have (I know they are learners, but are they more beginners or more advanced)? Do you want them to read Hindi Wikipedia or to edit Hindi Wikipedia?
  • World Hindi Secretariat. How many staff members do they have? Do you expect them to contribute during their staff or spare time?
  • World Hindi Conference in Mauritius. What do you mean under Hindi Wiki community members become part of volunteer organization team, are you speaking of volunteering for the Wikipedia Booth or for the conference team? Have you reached any Hindi Wikipedians in Mauritius (there is no active affiliate in the country)?
  • Central Hindi Training Institute. Do you want them to show Wikipedia during trainings just to inform people that they can read Wikipedia or do you want them to teach people to edit Wikipedia?
  • Raajbhasha. What kind of participation do you expect during regional Hindi events?
  • University collaborations. You mention regional partners and collaborators who will organise these workshops, how do you plan to recruit them? What kind of trainings do you plan for students? (As a reminder from what was mentioned above by Amir, trainings have very low efficiency, with just 5-10% of participants becoming Wikipedians)

Sorry for a lot of questions and thank you in advance for your answers — NickK (talk) 19:57, 30 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]


@NickK: Thank you so much for reviewing our proposal. We would like to answer your questions with your kind permission.

Risks: You state that no organization wants to be the first to take risks with Wikipedia. Why do you think that the approach of starting with bigger organisations will work? What will happen if some or all organisations will not take risks with Wikipedia, do you have any alternative plans?

Organizations look and sound bigger but in terms of number, they have 10 to 20 people staff at max at the Embassy. We are in touch with officials from last two years.
These organizations are ready to take the risks with minimal investment and after seeing pilot project results, host organizations might invest more to promote Hindi language through Wikimedia.

Sustainability: You state that the major outcome of this proposal will be forming an initial partnership with these organisations. I agree that initial partnership is a significant asset, but how are you planning to use this after the end of the grant? How will you make sure that these partnerships continue when you will no longer be a programme manager of this programme?

Government is having separate budget just to promote Hindi language and anyone with proven track record/reporting can apply for funding. We are hopeful about getting additional support from government to continue this program and eventually we want to make it as self-sustaining model where local volunteers can directly work with media department and host workshops.
As slowly and steadily, as workshops are conducted (during the initial partnership phase) some workshop participants would indulge in Wikimedia Projects like we all do. This would promote creation of Wikimedian communities and the multiplier effect would then take its route.

Volunteers: Your programme relies on a significant contribution from experienced volunteer Wikipedians. On one hand, you mention that this is a scarce resource (few (less than 50) active regular editors). On the other hand, you will need a lot of volunteers, and in different locations, including the US (Consulate of India in NY, trainings for US-based medical students), India (Raajbhasha and others) and Mauritius (World Hindi Conference 2018). How are you planning to recruit these volunteers, given that your initiative does not seem to be supported at least by a significant part of the community?

For average 10 people staff we need one or two volunteers and we have that much support. We have also added scholarships for experienced Wikimedians. These targeted 10 people govt staff have power to make a larger impact in terms of increasing readership of Hindi Wikipedia. Small promotional pamphlet at embassy can attract more people towards Hindi Wikipedia.
These government staff are a resource who master the art of spreading nation’s soft power, which includes nations languages. Hence, the impact of training them would be much more than a normal editor.
Similarly for World Hindi Conference, it is one of the largest gathering to promote Hindi language and 20 member staff can give us access to 5,000+ people over a period of time. It is one time investment to form relationship which will be useful in long run.

Workshop spaces: It is not clear how you will manage workshop spaces. On one hand, your proposal includes budget for 5 spaces, what kind of workshops (students, staff, Hindi learners...) will that be and where (India, US, elsewhere)? On the other hand, one of your targets is a donation of workshop spaces by partner organisations, do you have an idea who will use these spaces?

Workshops will be mainly for staff members of government agencies and decision makers. Other workshop spaces will be open for volunteers who can book the venue for free and start monthly meet-ups. Several such Indian student communities in United States have shown their intent. With Embassy support some student communities should materialise.

Targets: Why do you target only 45-50 new articles? You target recruiting about 200 people, I assume most of them will not become active Wikipedians, but why do you expect only 1 in 4 will actually edit something?

It is one of the aspect. Our primary focus is increasing readership and eventually we hope at-least 25% of them will start editing Wikipedia and 10% will stick back as regular editors. This is our hypothesis and assumption.
Most Indian language communities today are struggling new-article creation syndrome. Learning from understanding, our focus is more on improving citations, putting infoboxes to the articles, images from Commons, adding categories etc.

Workshops in the Consulate of India in New York: What level of Hindi do these people have (I know they are learners, but are they more beginners or more advanced)? Do you want them to read Hindi Wikipedia or to edit Hindi Wikipedia?

Intermediate level Hindi users. They can use Wiktionary, Wikipedia to read and grasp vocabulary. Again, this is a readership effort. Many people are unaware that Wikipedia exists in Hindi language.


World Hindi Secretariat: How many staff members do they have? Do you expect them to contribute during their staff or spare time?

We expect staff members to give us access to events/conferences like World Hindi Conference where volunteers can host edit-a-thons and do Wikipedia outreach. If 20 staff members want to contribute - then it is an excellent outcome. This would be an incidental achievement and icing on the cake.

World Hindi Conference in Mauritius: What do you mean under Hindi Wiki community members become part of volunteer organization team, are you speaking of volunteering for the Wikipedia Booth or for the conference team? Have you reached any Hindi Wikipedians in Mauritius (there is no active affiliate in the country)?

Yes, we are talking about volunteering for the Wikipedia booth. We are hopeful about having an independent user-group in Mauritius to promote Hindi Wikimedia projects after this pilot project.

Central Hindi Training Institute: Do you want them to show Wikipedia during trainings just to inform people that they can read Wikipedia or do you want them to teach people to edit Wikipedia?

In first phase, we want to add Wikipedia in their syllabus where they can learn about existence of Hindi Wikipedia. We will organize editing workshops for interested volunteers at these institutes periodically.

Raajbhasha: What kind of participation do you expect during regional Hindi events?

Poets, Writers, Hindi lovers who can contribute to projects like Wiktionary, Wikibooks etc in addition to Hindi Wikipedia.

University collaborations: You mention regional partners and collaborators who will organise these workshops, how do you plan to recruit them? What kind of trainings do you plan for students? (As a reminder from what was mentioned above by Amir, trainings have very low efficiency, with just 5-10% of participants becoming Wikipedians)

Anyone who believes in power of Wikimedia projects is a Wikip/median for us. We will use this opportunity to clear myths about Wikipedia at universities and get readers from these institutes. Recent WMF survey shows that overall awareness of Wikipedia is very low amongst Indians. After meeting readership/awareness goal, for interested editors - we will design special curriculum with the help of experienced Wikipedia Education Program members. Initial training will include overview of Wikimedia projects, basic editing, referencing etc.
--AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 22:26, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@AbhiSuryawanshi: Thank you very much for answering these questions. My TL;DR summary is that it is a very good idea to promote reading Wikipedia among Indians, but doing this among Indians in the US is probably less impactful. Most things are clear for me, but a few comments:
  • I would think that you will have audiences with different levels of awareness. I would say that Indian students in the US probably know about Hindi Wikipedia but prefer English because they study in English and it has more and better articles. On the other hand, people in Mauritius or India may have never used Wikipedia, or may have never used Hindi Wikipedia simply because their phones are in French and English respectively. I would think that trainings for these people would have to be different, are you ready to work on it?
  • I think that Raajbhasha and other Indian institutions are good targets indeed for promoting reading Hindi Wikipedia. You likely have the biggest encyclopaedia in Hindi ever, so that's a good fit with promotion of the national language
  • The impact of people learning Hindi in the consulate on Hindi Wikipedia will be probably low. They probably know Wikipedia (well, they live in the US), and they will probably not read Hindi Wikipedia on the daily basis (it's not their first language). You might try to ask them to translate articles from English to Hindi if they have any assignments to translate texts from English to Hindi or ask them to work on Wiktionary.
  • On the other hand, I think that it would be better to focus the efforts of medical students on writing Wikipedia. They have the knowledge, they can make an impact there. I would say that what you call new-article creation syndrome is usually a positive thing for people in science.
  • I don't agree that Anyone who believes in power of Wikimedia projects is a Wikip/median. If you want to train people to edit Wikipedia, you probably need people with at least moderate Wikipedia experience. It is very hard to teach people to edit Wikipedia if you don't know how to do it yourself. On the other hand, I agree that increasing the number of people who believe in Wikimedia projects would be a positive outcome
Thank you again for your answers and for your proposal — NickK (talk) 23:39, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]


@NickK: Thank you so much for suggestions and in-depth review of our proposal. We would like to provide additional comments and information -

I would think that you will have audiences with different levels of awareness. I would say that Indian students in the US probably know about Hindi Wikipedia but prefer English because they study in English and it has more and better articles. On the other hand, people in Mauritius or India may have never used Wikipedia, or may have never used Hindi Wikipedia simply because their phones are in French and English respectively. I would think that trainings for these people would have to be different, are you ready to work on it?

Well, many people in India know about Wikipedia some also do know about Sister projects but not about Wikipedia being available in other languages. Only people using iOS or Android interface in their own language (other than English) recognise. Based on implied understanding, Indian students in US do not know about Wikipedia in Hindi.
Anyways, this is just an observation, and YES training the set of different target audience needs to be different and our plans are designed accordingly. The student community in USA is well-versed with the ABCs of Internet while in India many still conceive Wikipedia to be a Social Media platform or a news-website which was also reflected in the recent WMF surveys.
To answer this in short, “Yes- Behavioural factors will be taken under consideration”.

I think that Raajbhasha and other Indian institutions are good targets indeed for promoting reading Hindi Wikipedia. You likely have the biggest encyclopaedia in Hindi ever, so that's a good fit with promotion of the national language

Yes, it is. Working with Rajbhasha on a small pilot role in USA could help in possible association all around the globe where Indian diaspora is present. Also, working with Rajbhasha and other Indian institution could help us connect with Hindi academicians, writers, historians of the highest scholarship.
Cherry on Cake, if eminent people also endorse Hindi Wikipedia.

The impact of people learning Hindi in the consulate on Hindi Wikipedia will be probably low. They probably know Wikipedia (well, they live in the US), and they will probably not read Hindi Wikipedia on the daily basis (it's not their first language). You might try to ask them to translate articles from English to Hindi if they have any assignments to translate texts from English to Hindi or ask them to work on Wiktionary.

One of their work profile objective is promotion of Indian language particularly Hindi. Also, they read and write lot of text pertaining to Hindi from the embassy. They do so to communicate the message to larger Indians in India.
Indian embassy on average organises workshop and trains people almost 3000 people every-year. Our goal is to incorporate Wikipedia in this training module.

On the other hand, I think that it would be better to focus the efforts of medical students on writing Wikipedia. They have the knowledge, they can make an impact there. I would say that what you call new-article creation syndrome is usually a positive thing for people in science

Generally editors in India create one-line article and stop. They keep doing this and lot of stub articles are formed. It has been widely discussed across lot of meetups and conferences in India to resolve such issue and be cautious while training new editors.
Hence, our first focus is on improving the existing articles. There are many one-line medical articles and we would like to focus on improving these articles and student will have freedom to create new articles on missing topics.

I don't agree that Anyone who believes in power of Wikimedia projects is a Wikip/median. If you want to train people to edit Wikipedia, you probably need people with at least moderate Wikipedia experience. It is very hard to teach people to edit Wikipedia if you don't know how to do it yourself. On the other hand, I agree that increasing the number of people who believe in Wikimedia projects would be a positive outcome

We do not mean like that. We refer to anyone who is an only an avid reader of Wikimedia projects is a Wikimedia and also a potential editor in future. On training, Volunteers from Hindi Wikipedia would be there. Completely with you on that , “at least moderate Wikipedia experience”


Thank you once again for suggestions and review. Kindly let us know if you have any additional questions.
--AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 17:14, 4 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Institutional support[edit]

I very much like the idea of involving immigrants and other minorities to edit their native language Wikimedia wikis and improve the respective coverage or diversity, so on the face of it a collaboration with the Indian Embassy in New York makes a lot of sense. I expected it would be easier to cooperate on such efforts with associations of immigrants, schools or other supporting non-profits, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. However, I don't understand if there is already some buy-in from the embassy and the various other institutions. If this project managed to prove a solid output and support from relevant institutions or non-profits, I could see it replicated with other minorities in the USA and EU. --Nemo 12:08, 31 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Aggregated feedback from the committee for Hindi Wikipedia Outreach[edit]

Scoring rubric Score
(A) Impact potential
  • Does it have the potential to increase gender diversity in Wikimedia projects, either in terms of content, contributors, or both?
  • Does it have the potential for online impact?
  • Can it be sustained, scaled, or adapted elsewhere after the grant ends?
 5.5
(B) Community engagement
  • Does it have a specific target community and plan to engage it often?
  • Does it have community support?
 5.8
(C) Ability to execute
  • Can the scope be accomplished in the proposed timeframe?
  • Is the budget realistic/efficient ?
  • Do the participants have the necessary skills/experience?
 5.7
(D) Measures of success
  • Are there both quantitative and qualitative measures of success?
  • Are they realistic?
  • Can they be measured?
 4.8
Additional comments from the Committee:
  • Fits with strategic direction of working towards knowledge equity by aiming to increase activity/engagement in Hindi language projects. There is potential for online impact although proposal seems more focused on building awareness of Wikimedia projects than recruiting new contributors or expanding content. There is little consideration given to sustainability of the work.
  • I am not sure that establishing such broad collaborations fits Wikimedia's strategic priorities. The potential for online impact seems limited. The sustainability of the these partnerships (even if they are created successfully) is not clear.
  • The project fits with Wikimedia's priority in creating long term partnerships. The potential for online impact is doubtful, since the suggested outreach methods are on the borderline of advertisement/marketing. I am not sure about the scalability of this project, unless the project leads can secure some external funding to continue their work.
  • Hindi is one of world's most spoken language and the growth of wiki projects in this language is extremely important, having in mind the current quality and quantity of contents.
  • The idea itself of reaching a diaspora is good. It fits our strategic priorities of reaching wider audiences and it can be replicated with other diasporas elsewhere. The major concern is impact that is difficult to measure as major goal is increasing readership, and targets are low in terms of content creation.
  • I think there are too many organizations being targeted for partnership - this relationship-building can take time and I would rather see the project focus on working with 1 or 2 in order to mitigate risk. Another risk is that the activities proposed will not result in effective partnerships with sustainable outcomes (whereby partners take on organizing/leadership roles going forward); as a model based in NYC it may also not be easily adapted by other countries (and specifically in India).
  • The impact is unclear because the goals of the project are very vague. In addition, some of the specified goals like "to produce journalism and program reports for Wikipedia partnerships" does not really look like goals. The measures of success are specific but too narrow for such a big project.
  • A project of this kind is fairly innovative in that the project leads will promote Hindi Wikipedia among various governmental and non-governmental institutes. The measures of success are not clear - how would the meeting of several bureaucrats and presenting at conferences translate to editor retention and article creation? The two project leads also appear to be very ambitious about recruitment of participants from a variety of fronts : medicine, policy, school students etc, all in 6 months. It is also unknown if the project leads have the contacts to meet and train people in multiple locations.
  • measure success are not precisely defined
  • Very innovative approach as there have been little to no successful projects with diasporas before. Long-term impact is a major concern: due to limited community support it is not clear who will continue these partnerships after the end of the grant.
  • It is not clear to me why there is focus on creating a video or producing journalism about Wikipedia. I would like to see a project with smaller scope (and smaller budget) that focuses just on activity in NYC where the team has support from members of Wikimedia New York City.
  • The budget appears to be realistic but some expenditures are excessive: video documentary, for instance. The participants probably have necessary skills.
  • The budget is high for the impact it offers. The main project lead has previously been accused of not having financial discipline on India mailing list. The participants have the necessary skills and experience, but it is unsure if they have the right contacts at the schools/med school/university/conference where they plan to execute the project.
  • the budget is presented good and "clean".
  • The budget is reasonable for a project in the US, and participants have necessary skills. The major concern is that there is no plan B if collaboration with these institutions fails, and even authors say this risk is significant.
  • There are some endorsements - but also this grant has created a lot of tension within the Hindi Wikimedia community, with some on the talk page saying they would not support the project in any way. I find this a bit worrying for the sustainability of the work.
  • The community support is low but there appears to be significant community opposition to the project.
  • The target community is well defined. Community support is scarce. Several community members have stepped up against giving funds for this project on the talk page. Diversity is reasonably supported in this project.
  • after many years of debate, there remained unclear support from the community that is primary in the realization of this project. Therefore, success is not guaranteed as well as the solution of the key problem; the successful realization of the given goals is questionable.
  • Excellent commitment to support diversity. Mixed community reaction: some support while others do not, I still have doubts on having enough volunteers for offline events.
  • I am not sure of the value or potential impact of this specific proposal but there is a good case made in the proposal for supporting Hindi Wikimedia projects. However, it makes more sense for funded work in this area to be done if not by then at least in cooperation with the Hindi user group.
  • I can not recommend this project for funding. Its goals are vague. A significant part of the Hindu community opposes it. And in general such activities should not be funded by WMF as they are not directly related to the Wikimedia projects and bring only limited benefits to the Wikimedia Movement.
  • I'm giving a neutral rating, because the costs outweigh the impact. The action plans and the outcomes do not seem to match so well.
  • I recommend adjustment of the budget, as many items look unnecessary
  • no clear measure success, no clear community support, high risk
  • I would like to recommend only partial funding with a focus on two or three institutions. The idea is good, but it might be a costly failure due to an impact rather difficult to measure and concerns about sustainability of the project. I think that some parts of the project (World Hindi Conference and US medical students) are very impactful, while others might be difficult to sustain without an established organisation or group behind.

Opportunity to respond to committee comments in the next week

The Project Grants Committee has conducted a preliminary assessment of your proposal. Based on their initial review, a majority of committee reviewers have not recommended your proposal for funding. You can read more about their reasons for this decision in their comments above. Before the committee finalizes this decision, they would like to provide you with an opportunity to respond to their comments.

Next steps:

  1. Aggregated committee comments from the committee are posted above. Note that these comments may vary, or even contradict each other, since they reflect the conclusions of multiple individual committee members who independently reviewed this proposal. We recommend that you review all the feedback carefully and post any responses, clarifications or questions on this talk page by 5pm UTC on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. If you make any revisions to your proposal based on committee feedback, we recommend that you also summarize the changes on your talkpage.
  2. The committee will review any additional feedback you post on your talkpage before making a final funding decision. A decision will be announced Thursday, May 27, 2021.


Questions? Contact us at projectgrants (_AT_) wikimedia  · org.


AbhiSuryawanshi, please see note above about the opportunity to respond to committee comments before they finalize a decision on your proposal. Please let me know if you have any questions. Warm regards, --Marti (WMF) (talk) 06:52, 16 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Additional information by applicant[edit]

@Mjohnson (WMF): Firstly, many thanks for reviewing our project grant proposal. We would request you to kindly convey our thanks to everyone who reviewed it. We acknowledge the detailed comments provided to us, it takes time and energy and we wholeheartedly appreciate that.

As we read through the comments, we understand there has been some communication gap, perhaps, we are not able to pen down our ideas with precision. Of course, there are some inputs which we recognize and without a doubt would change them as desired.

About sustainability -

This is just a pilot project to be done in New York. If successful, it can be rolled out all across the globe considering the external agency <Government of India> remains same and they have control over all Indian Embassy.

Hence, the Wikimedia’s plan for long term partnerships.

On Contacts - Would request for more time to produce evidence. We can connect WMF official with officials to check the authenticity as well commitment.

About community support -

The community resentment was due to incomplete information. If one reads through re-updates were provided on Hindi village pump and discussion was initiated. Post admins - few editors (also admins) have endorsed the proposal. May find it on the endorsement page.

Many members believed that this project will kill other Hindi grants and they believed that WMF provides limited funding per language. This is not the case, WMF clarified it and few members added endorsement after getting answers from WMF.

You may read Hindi Community Usergroup objection/concerns here about funding status and implications - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:IdeaLab/Hindi_Wikipedia_Outreach#Objections_of_Hindi_Wikimedians_User_Group

We have addressed these concerns and Hindi user group founding members have supported/endorsed this proposal.

About Budget -

The budget has been prepared keeping in mind the legislations in New York pertaining to minimum wages. A discounted budget has now been presented below.

More detailed Goals :

We also received feedback from community members and few senior members advised us to focus on sister projects like Hindi Wikiquotes along with Hindi Wikipedia.

Expected outcome - Hindi Wikiquotes

Additional Wikiquotes targets -

  1. Number of events: 6 Spread over a period of 3 months
  2. Number of participants: ~10 participants assigned to each experienced team member
  3. Number of new editors: ~10 per workshop (new editors as in those who will be able to add quality content to Wikiquotes or improve the existing articles)
  4. Number of articles created or improved: 10 to 15 per Workshop
  5. Total new articles : 50
  6. Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): 10
  • Current Active editors on Hindi Wikiquotes : 8
  • Expected outcome - active editors after 3 months : 30

Adjusted Budget :

Sr

No

Category Description Number of Units Cost Per Unit WMF

Grant Request

Other Sources / in-kind support Currency
1 Key Personnel Project Manager 1 part-time Project Manager $20/hour x 20 hours/week x 24 weeks

12 weeks

$9,600.00

$4800

USD
2 Communication Internet, International romaing, phone calls etc variable variable $900.00

$450

$100.00 USD
3 Non-Capital Equipment Softwares, Apps, Laptops, printer/copiers, etc. variable variable $2,000.00 $2,000.00 USD
4 Video Documentary Video documentation of the project Includes shooting, editing, sound design etc $20/hour x 20 hors/week x 15 weeks $4,000.00 $1,000.00 USD
5 Workshop Space Computer labs renting, insurance, internet, food, chairs, tables etc 10

5

$1,000.00 $5,000.00

$2500

$5,000.00

$2500

USD
6 Materials Electronic program guides and other marketing materials 1 program guide, contact cards, and associated production costs variable $1,000.00 $500.00 USD
7 Travel (To World Hindi Secreteriart, Ministry of External Affairs, Hindi International Conference Office etc) Meet with partner organizations 5

2

$2,000.00 $9,000.00

$3,000

$1,000.00 USD
8 Accomodation During partnership visits and workshops 30

15

$100 x 3015 $2,000.00

$1,000

$1,000.00

$500

USD
9 Workshop Costs Supports for experienced Wikipedians to workshop sites (Travel, Food, Accomodation etc) Travel will correspond directly to major partner organization at each of the target sites named within this proposal. $1000 x 6 $5,000.00 $1,000.00 USD
10 Mail & Shipping Postage, etc. variable variable $500.00 USD
11 Other Unforseen costs variable $500.00 USD
12 Indirect Costs at 10% $4,000.00

$1375

Total $44,000.00

$15,125

$11,600.00

$4600

USD


Once again thank you so much for reviewing this proposal and let us know if you have any additional suggestions. Looking forward to hearing from you. --AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 04:59, 22 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Round 2 2017 decision[edit]

This project has not been selected for a Project Grant at this time.

We love that you took the chance to creatively improve the Wikimedia movement. The committee has reviewed this proposal and not recommended it for funding. This was a very competitive round with many good ideas, not all of which could be funded in spite of many merits. We appreciate your participation, and we hope you'll continue to stay engaged in the Wikimedia context.


Next steps: Applicants whose proposals are declined are welcome to consider resubmitting your application again in the future. You are welcome to request a consultation with staff to review any concerns with your proposal that contributed to a decline decision, and help you determine whether resubmission makes sense for your proposal.

Over the last year, the Wikimedia Foundation has been undergoing a community consultation process to launch a new grants strategy. Our proposed programs are posted on Meta here: Grants Strategy Relaunch 2020-2021. If you have suggestions about how we can improve our programs in the future, you can find information about how to give feedback here: Get involved. We are also currently seeking candidates to serve on regional grants committees and we'd appreciate it if you could help us spread the word to strong candidates--you can find out more here. We will launch our new programs in July 2021. If you are interested in submitting future proposals for funding, stay tuned to learn more about our future programs.
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