I have been stressing time and again that change at the AEPC can happen only with a new team and that is only possible if every exporter registered with the AEPC is given a fair opportunity to vote for their representatives. But it seems the road to achieve this dream is not going to be easy…
Last year, a group of exporters under the aegis of AHEA had taken the bold initiative to drag the AEPC and the MOT to court, demanding implementation of the Electronic Voting System (EVS), as directed by the letter issued by Department of Commerce way back in 2011 mandating adoption of EVS by all councils including the AEPC…
True to character, the AEPC has refused to adopt the EVS and at a recent hearing of the High Court it again took the plea that the council is not a listed company, and as of today there are only 751 members as per register of members while the EVS is must if there are at least 1,000 members… The lawyer for the MOT also requested dismissal of the said petition on the grounds that necessary instructions for the introduction of the EVS have already been issued 5 times from 2011 to 2015 vide various letters from different Departments and Ministries…, so their job was done!
On top of this, the Executive Committee of AEPC has decided to perpetuate the present arrangement of continuing members as usual by adopting a special resolution, and for the same the Chairman has called for an Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) on 27-03-2015… Can we expect any better?
In an open letter to the industry, the AHEA has demanded that immediate strict action be taken by the Government, invoking its powers under Article 101 of Memorandum of Articles and Articles of Association of AEPC, to direct the Chairman, AEPC and restrain him from convening and holding any Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM), as the whole purpose of raising this issue would be defeated and vested interests would continue to rule, as it is going on presently.
What is really appalling is that AEPC, in spite of being a Section 25 company and with a senior IAS officer as its Secretary General and 3 senior Government representatives at the rank of JS/AS to GoI in the Executive Committee, the council continues to behave and work as an independent private company and not pay heed to any of the directives of the Government.
On the contrary, taking an aggressive stand, the AEPC is raising questions on the conduct of the AHEA, saying that they have no locus to maintain the present petition and that it was filed with the sole intent to bring bad name to the management of AEPC. It has also raised questions on the existence of AHEA.
Somehow I am not really surprised at the turn of events…, what more can we expect. It is no secret that the fate of exporters in this country is in the hands of 20-30 powerful people, who rotate the key positions among themselves… Can we expect them to give up without a fight?
What does surprise me is that the MOT chooses to ignore what is happening at the AEPC and allow the council to continue functioning like an independent private company and channelizing the distribution of export promotion funds meant for the trade through it, with various incongruities and inequities manifested in it.
We had all hoped that with the new Government in position and fresh thought process, which many claim, is sweeping the corridors of power… things would change or at least show some sign of changes, but alas it seems that our industry is still fending for itself!
Even after constant reminders that things are going wrong and the BSMs in particular are one disappointment after the other, no move has been made to initiate improvement… A case in point is the utter failure of the participation of Indian delegation at the recently held Magic.
Let me share what one highly disgusted exhibitor wrote in to us…
“I am quite appalled and shocked at the arrangements done by the AEPC. The average expense of participating in Magic with the smallest stand is almost Rs. 6-9 lakh (two persons). The Ministry has stopped the grants for this show and we are now at the mercy of AEPC and how they wish to treat us. I had earlier written and suggested to the Chairman of AEPC for making the show stands look more presentable (like our friends from China and even smaller countries like Cambodia, Egypt, etc). Our whole Indian stand’s ambience and look is like our famous village MELA. Only the rides are missing. How many buyers worth the name really visited the Indian stands? AEPC will certainly make tall claims of millions worth of orders booked and enquiries generated in this fair. Is it really the truth…? What is your share in those millions…?”
