Feedbacks from Manthan Award South Asia 2009

The Manthan Award South Asia 2009 proved an amalagam of delegates and dignatories hobnobbing with each other and participating in the conclave and exhibition and other events that went on for the two days the whole event went on on Dec 18 & 19 ‘2009 at New Delhi.

Here are some feedbacks ( recommendations & suggestions) received from some of them.


“Thanks to the organiser for nice arrangements made for conference and presentations.””Pramod D Borole, NIC, India


 “It was very educating & inspiring. We came across various different fields of technology unheard of. Hope you carry on such digital innovation conferences every year.” – Niketa Jain, Kavita Vision, India 


 “This was a beautiful experience. We learnt innovative ideas & efforts with vast concept of technology in detail. There were more options unfolded which related more and facts into more ellaborated manner, how technology can bridge the rest of life.” – Nidhi Jain, Kavita Vision, India 


 “Being a first time participant, I felt it great to share ideas and experiences in the field of digital empowerment. Many more ideas which could be collected from presentation & exhibition here may be utilised later in the public interest. This is a great achievement & learning. Well organised and caring.” – Ranjit Kumar Maiti,  Govt. of West Bengal, India 


 “Excellent work done by DEF. Thanks all of you for this type of conference/exhibition. We gain various experiences the ICT from various state from West Bengal and other countries.” – Suman Das, Govt. of West Bengal, India 


 “I wish the event be shifted from Sirifort Auditorium next year.” Aakash Pawal, India 


 “The conference was a good show and the exhibition was very well organised. Hence there was a webcast from outside, there wasn’t any display for the viewers at the conference to where to log for the Live Event.”H S Manola, 24FramesDigital 


 “Great job. Wonderful, keep it up.” – Marshall Baptista, Fun And Joy At Work, India 


 Exhibition: was good and stall relevant could be a little spaced out though.Conference: Attended Alternative News and Community Broadcasting – found it very informative and must say one of the best among the 3 sessions I attened. Sustainable Digital Approach for Education, Learning & HRD – was fairly good and there were plenty of ideas to take back. IDRC India Social Science Research Panel Discussions – there was no speaker list and therefore rather difficult to follow.” – Ms. Sangeetha Rajeesh, Press Institute of India, India 


 “Really a great initiative to get participation from such a large spread of KTD projects & initiatives from India as well as other South Asian countries. It was a good opportunity for the grassroot implements, govt agencies and application developers to interact. Well managed and participative. 

(1) Offer WiFi opportunity for liveblogging for future Manthan Award / Conclaves.

(2) Ensure that presentations are sent in advance and also somewhat vetted – it seemed that there was quality/focu/maturity gaps – while some enlightened us briliiantly about the projects, others seemed to flounder all over despite perhaps the projects themselves being good.

(3) A small card or section on the agenda could give us a map of where to find what would be very helpful.” – Aparna Ray, Global Voices Online 


 “It was very well organised. Almost everything was found in place. There were some lawlessness in the Pavilion initially. Some private “vendors” selling their services to the participant, was not good. They misused this occasion. It should be regulated in future. Overlall, it was very courteous atmosphere. Needs a bit improvement in logistics.” – Dr. S.M. Haider Rizvi, Sheffield Hallam University, UK


 “It was indeed a pleasure attending this conference/exhibition as it was very enriching & enlightening. I could come across lots of ideas & innovation contributing to the development of the society. I feel such efforts should be encouraged and Manthan Awards is doing a great job in providing a wonderful platform. Hope to be a part of such events in future as well.Great going. Keep it up.” – S L Rajashekhar, ISRO, Ahmedabad, India


“It was really great, well managed and informative. We are honoured to be a part of this conference/exhibition. The interactions and informations that we could exchange with different organisations are really worthwhile.

Wish to see more participation from the SAARC Countries in the coming years. Also, it deserves far more attention from the mainstream print and electronic media so that the man on the street knows about MASA.”Praful Rao, SaveTheHills, India


 “We got information related to the lot of initiatives taken by the government on technology like GPS functions and the satellite based education which one can implement in different areas.” – R Jaishankar, Start Health & Allied Insurance Company Ltd, India


 “Many thanks for this conference bringing digital development. It would be better to poor communities for rural tribal sector for their confidence so that it will be grossly widened. All the best.” – Pradumn Mahajatru, Udyama, India


“A refresingly useful conference with sound thought process. Interested to participate next year too and probably try to forge a working alliance in related areas with your foundation.

Some video clippings/documentaries could be thought of to make things more attractive.”Arijit Mitra, Computax Consultants, Kolkata, India


 “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” – Pradeep Gohil, Ape & Super Ape E & I Pvt. Ltd., India


 “Excellent sharing of latest information & technology being used by different organisations.”– Neeraj Saxena, Rajya Shiksha Kendra Bhopal, India


“The programme was excellently organised. Hospitality was nice. Timely intimation about schedule of programme in newspapers and academic journals can attract more participants.”Dr Rajkumar Siwach, Ch. Devi Lal University, Sirsa (Haryana), India


 “Excellent. I have enjoyed it a lot.” – Ajoy Kumar Bose, D.Net, Dhaka, Bangladesh


 “Nice efforts. Nice lunch & sessions are good also as per time table.” – Indra Bisen, MP Forest, India


 “The two day event was very well organised. By attending the sessions we could come out of the shell (our portal) and learn what other states and organisations are doing.”Ajit Nair, Technical Consultant (IT), School Education, Madhya Pradesh


 “The speakers at the conference were good. They knew both the positive & negative points of view of e-world. Manthan Awards has bring togetehr both rural and urban world together. The rural areas which nobody wants to associate with (absolutely untouched area) Manthan Awards has brought them to the limelight. Great work done.”Rachna Tweatia, 24FramesDigital


“Conference and exhibition were well organised and well participated. It is understood this year’s total applicants have increased which is a good sign. Quality will automatically be better year by year. Presence of grassroot level entries are encouraging. Many ideas, many approaches and many strategies and implementations – all to see and learn in two days. The efforts of DEF is praiseworthy.

Awareness about this award should be increased to attract rural participation more. Perhaps some support is to be extended to grassroot participants for documentation and presentation.”Dr. Asesh Banerjee Choudhury, Tiger’s Job Project, West Bengal, India 


” Session arrangement was good, Stalls were good, Good effort to bring rural communities who have implemented ICT. Increase more wellness of visitors.”Prof. Kiran Trivedi, India


” Good stalls, Good lighting. International participation Popularised the award.”Kinnar Vaghela, GKS, Gujarat Knowledge Society, India


“It is very good for organisation to share views and idea also for networking. Nice job. Please keep it up” – Rajnish Kumar, Liberty Institute, India


 “Great. Well organised.” – Rose Folen, UNESCO


“Nice arrangement, Proper place to showcase ICT” – Susanta K Dash, CSM Tech Orissa, India


” Very well organised conference, Exhibition was well arranged as well. Exhibition to be placed in same building as conference.” – Sumit AGRAWAL, IL&FS, India


“Nice exhibition set up, Good set up for showcase of technologies, Good arrangements of Wi-Fi, Power etc., Good opportunities for networking on such a large ICT band platform. To showcase exhibition stalls to arrange conferences in same hall.” – Naveen Kumar, Media Lab Asia, India


 “Really a good opportunity to showcase and get rewarded & recognised.” – Amit Jaiswal, Sify Technology Ltd, India


“The entire show was professionally organised and managed. The conference auditorium, participant stalls and catering can be seamlessly adjacent. A different venue (like Pragati Maidan) can be explored next time. House keeping & security levels have to be improved.” – Anant Patil, Manipal K-12 Education, India


“The arrangements were good. Scope for more improvement. Support in the form of drinking water etc./toilet etc.” Chandan Sen, NIC, Government of India


 “This exhibition should very good and I have gained very good knowledge and experience.” – Rahul Gupta, UPSCPortal.com, India


 “My experience at this exhibition was very good and it sounds really very useful and great for all those who participating in this exhibition/conference.” – Sanjay Gupta, UPSCPortal.com, India


 “Excellent organisation. Go on. We are always with you for any responsibility. You put on us. Thank you.” – Parag Yadav, SMSONE, Pune


“Thanks for the opportunity to us. Good learning process for me. I am coming from rural area. I have seen website of Rajasthan government and request to for ractify area of electricity and water supply which are mentioned “YES” but not yes in real situation in my own village, Jaswantpura, Polearan, Jaisalmer. Thanks again give the opportunity for remote gaps. Thanks.” – Karan Ram Poonar, Urmul Setu Sansthan, Rajasthan


“I suggest that the conference should both be in Hindi & English so that village people who work with poor people should understand the whole thing. This award should be given to poor only. One boy who has done with Dalit got award, it felt good.” – Poonaram, BFC Tilonia


“The function of Digital Empowerment Foundation is very commendable. We got to learn by coming here that how people are working with communities. In each stall, some work or the other is done on technology. Through computer and community radio people’s problems canbe put before the state level administrators and from fromstate level can be taken upto the level of the central government. The Manthan Award function is very commendable.

(1) All the stalls are very good, but all the posters are in English. Not all people can understand English.

(2) In this function, people from communities and towns should also be invited.

(3) All the facilities were very good. The planning for the whole event was done very well. – Meera Prajapat, Jagrat Mahila Samiti, Shahabad, Kishanganj, India


“We came through Canderi programme and our sarees and suits and tops were very much liked. We are hopeful that through your programme Chanderi sarees, suits can find direct linkages to markets.” – Mujeeb Mohammed, Chanderiyaan, India


“It felt very good coming here. Your programme was very good.” – Representative of Kumayun Grameen Udyog Kashiyalekh, India

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