Erode, Salem associations elect new team

DQW News Bureau

Chennai:  It's election time at Erode and Salem. The twin-towns recently
elected office bearers for the term 2007-09. Erode and Salem, which also happen
to be district headquarters for the respective region, share many things in
common. Both follow a biennial election format and elect people unanimously.
And, more importantly, they work in close tandem.

"Warranty issues, service support, DoA and price protection, among
others, are the common issues faced by us in the region. The new team will
strive to wipe out all the ills from the market. Unity is our strength,"
said C Balakrishnan, the newly elected president of EDITA (Erode IT
Association).

EDITA was formed in 2001 and had conducted three elections so far. Generally,
people are elected unanimously and the new team was announced in March 2007.
"We took over the office from April and we have many things on our agenda
to be completed in the next two years (during our term)," he said.

According to the association, resellers have to travel to Chennai or
Coimbatore to solve warranty issues. The association would press the
vendors/distributors concerned to put up a local collection center for warranty
and replacement support. Similarly, the association would request vendors to put
a team in Erode for quick on-site service support for customers. "DoA is
the other deadly issue, where we lose customers for no fault of ours,"
pointed out Balakrishnan.

EDITA also wants support from vendors to conduct technical seminars and
education programs. "We want people to be qualified and well-informed about
the latest products and technologies. Resellers should have healthy competition
among themselves but not fight only over price," he mentioned. The
association is likely to conduct an expo next month to promote business in the
region.

EDITA has 53 resellers registered with it as members and there are over 100
IT traders in the town. The other markets nearby are Gobi, Sathyamangalam,
Kangeyam, Tharapuram and Vellaikoil (all under Erode district). Salem, which is
70km away, is another major IT market near Erode. And it is one of the six major
corporations in Tamil Nadu.

SITA is the name of local association in Salem. SITA (Salem IT Association)
was formed in 2003 and elections are conducted once every two years. The new
team for 2007-09 was elected last month and B Rajamanickam, once again was made
president unanimously.

"Our main objective for this term would be increasing members. We want to
double our membership base from present 42 to 85. And we are expanding our reach
for the same. SITA would now cover places like Hosur, Dharmapuri, Namakkal,
Aathur, Krishnagiri and Mettur," said Rajamanickam.

Like Erode association, SITA also wants to fight for common issues such as
warranty, service support, DoA and price protection from vendors.

SITA is quite consistent in conducting IT exhibitions in the region and this
year, it wants to hold a major fair attracting over 1,000 people. "Expos
like these really promote business in the region," he added.

SITA office bearers

B Rajamanickam, President (Infotek Computer Services)

J Palani Raja, VP (Infolink Systems)

GV Ramanan, Secretary (Rams)

VK Shanmuganandam, Joint Secretary (Apex Software Park)

P Manikandan, Treasurer (Magnum Enterprises)

EDITA office bearers

C Balakrishnan, President (BCS Hardware Division)

TK Chandrasekar, VP (Prethvi Computers)

S Saravanan, Secretary (Vikram Technologies)

D Baskaran, Joint Secretary (ABC Infotech)

PR Vetrivel, Treasurer (Adhav Computers