Durgapur dealers form association

Durgapur

January 28th, 2008

The Durgapur Computer Association and Welfare Society recently held their
executive committee meeting to elect its office bearers. Although the newly
formed association is yet to elect its President and VP, the names of the
remaining office bearers have been announced. Debashish Dutta of Door Computers
has been appointed as Secretary and Dibakar Roy of IT Bazaar as Assistant
Secretary. Sudip Jain of Computer Wizard has been elected as Treasurer while
Anupam Sarkar of CTG Infosystem is the Assistant Treasurer.

Speaking about the need for an association, Dibakar Roy, Assistant Secretary,
Durgapur Computer Association and Welfare Society said, "Durgapur Computer
Association and Welfare Society was formed with the purpose of bringing local
dealers under one common platform and to improve the IT business in Durgapur and
adjacent areas." Elaborating further, Debashish Dutta, Secretary, Durgapur
Computer Association and Welfare Society mentioned that the key objective behind
the formation of the association is to encourage and help the local partners in
practicing healthy business, which will help in the betterment of the trade.
"IT dealers face various issues from time to time which become difficult
for them to resolve. With the presence of an association such disputes can be
easily resolved," he explained. Presently, the association has 22 members.
"There are many upcoming and new partners who can be supported to establish
themselves through the association. This will help the business grow," said
Dutta. The association also plans to provide computer training to the local
orphanages and schools.

Meanwhile, the association is organizing an expo at Gandhi Maidan in Durgapur
City Center. Named as IT and Electronics Fair '08 the exhibition, which will be
held from Feb 6 to 10 and is the first such effort of the newly formed
association and will be conducted with the help of a local event management
company-Reflection. "We are trying to organize the expo in a bigger manner
and make it popular among the dealers as well as end-users. That is the reason
why we have included other industries apart from IT like, electronics and home
appliances, education and BFSI," said Roy. "The expo is being
organized in a larger area and we are creating two separate enclosures, one
dedicated towards IT and the second will have stalls from electronics and other
industries," he added. Although it is yet to finalize, in total DCAWS is
planning to host over 30 stalls half of which will be given to IT dealers and
the rest to other participants.

The association is expecting around 25 companies to participate in the expo
and is organizing various competitions and cultural programs to attract maximum
visitors. The opening ceremony will be followed by a beauty contest by the name
of Durgapur Swarna Sundari. Apart from that there will be cooking competition,
quiz competition, kid's IT and games competition and ramp walk, fashion show,
musical program, etc. "The whole idea of organizing this expo is to provide
the local IT dealers an opportunity to showcase their products and services and
interact directly with the end customers. Since it is not just an IT exhibition
but a mixed offering with some entertaining events we are expectation a good
footfall from a wider section of people even from the interiors," informed
Roy. "This will enable us to reach out to a larger customer segment
especially those in the interiors which otherwise remain untouched. Also, since
the association has been formed newly this exhibition will help us to popularize
it and attract other dealers to become members," he added.

According to both Roy and Dutta, being situated at the heart of a rich
industrial belt Durgapur as a market for IT holds good potential. IT awareness
and usage among the end-users is also growing. "Presence of an association
will help the local dealers to practice the trade in a more organized manner and
explore the market properly. Also, these types of expos help in creating
end-user as well as dealer awareness," stated Roy. "Our concentration
is now on conducting the forthcoming exhibition successfully. We have a better
plan for next year therefore we are trying to put in our best efforts. Although
this is the first year yet we are expecting a good response," said Dutta.

The three combined force of Burdwan, Durgapur and Asansol is one of the most
upcoming IT market in South Bengal. Surrounding by rich mining industries the
region is fast adapting new technologies. However, on asking about the need for
a separate association in Durgapur despite the fact that an association already
exists in Burdwan, Dutta explained, "The market size of Durgapur and
adjoining areas is roughly 1,000 PCs and laptops. This is an important market
catering to the coal and other industry belts." Adding further he said,
"Although Burdwan and Durgapur are nearby places, their work area and
market is different. While Burdwan caters to a different region Durgapur caters
to the markets surrounding the coal belt. Since the business area is different
the dealer in each places work as per their own dynamics. Therefore, there is a
need for a separate association and that's why in spite of being neighbors we
have opted to start another association." DCAWS is expected to elect its
President and VP once the expo is over.