ASPA 21st Annual General Meeting strengthens authentication awareness

The Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA), a non-profit organization focused on developing and strengthening building authentication ecosystems in India, announced the appointment of its new governing body members for 2021-2023. The new Governing Body Members were elected at its 21st Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on a virtual platform on 13 July 2021.

The AGM proceedings started with all the attended members paying tribute to its legends whom the industry lost during the last few months, including U K Gupta, former president, and founder of ASPA, Urvinder Singh, chief executive officer, Alpha Lasertek, and Suresh Sati, founder, Fake Free India. The AGM proceedings were further followed by annual activity reports from the Secretariat and Treasurer and later elections for the new governing body members.

This was the first time that the association election was held online to adhere to Covid-19 protocol. The election officer Shruti Kaushik, IP Attorney (managing director, Patentwire) conducted the election process and declared the election results. The elections were held for a five-member committee and the new appointment for 2021-23 are - Nakul Pasricha, president and chief executive officer, PharmaSecure (President); Manoj Kochar, director, Holoflex (Vice-President); Luv D. Shriram, director, Shriram Veritech (Gen. Secretary & Treasurer); Ashish Chandra, country director, De La Rue India (Member); and Sanjay Kumbhat, partner, Kumbhat Holographics (Member).

The newly elected governing body further co-opted two more members, Ankit Gupta, director, Holostik India, and Nityanand Shenoy, president and managing director, PRS Permacel in the governing body.

On this occasion, Nakul Pasricha, president of ASPA, said, “ASPA has been instrumental in developing and growing the authentication ecosystem in the country. I am honored to be re-elected as the President of this distinguished association. I am gratified by the trust and faith all members have shown in me and the new governing body members. I assure them of working to deliver on core objectives of support, education, and advocacy in developing standards and promoting authentication solutions. To amplify the efforts, the new governing body will be preparing Vision 2023 to mark ASPA’s 25th anniversary in 2023. Vision 2023 will be dedicated to uplifting the ongoing efforts and preparing the blueprint for the future.”

He further added, “We salute the leaders who have paved the initial way. It is our responsibility to make this fight smarter with increased use of digital technologies and more effective by working with various institutions. ASPA has continuously worked towards increasing the awareness quotient. Now is the time to see this translate into positive buying behavior by empowering the consumers and other stakeholders. Our Vision 2023 will embody our strategy towards these targets.”

Manoj Kochar, vice president, ASPA, shared, “I have huge respect for ASPA and am thrilled to re-join it in a new role in the Governing Body. Since its inception, ASPA has made huge progress in creating momentum in the fight against fakes in India, and we are committed to strengthening this momentum. We will speed up our awareness campaigns Make Sure India, Brand protection Awareness initiatives, institutional awareness at India, and global level with industry bodies, including International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), International Tax Stamp Association (ITSA), GS1, and other prominent intra-industry associations. We look forward to working with government departments, industry bodies, and institutions to develop more avenues to make India’s fight against counterfeiting more powerful.”

Almost every industry in India, such as Pharmaceuticals, FMCG, Currency, Tobacco, and Alcohol, is victim to the menace of counterfeiting and illicit trade. The country requires a comprehensive, proactive, and holistic counter approach. ASPA as an industry body is aligned to support the government and industries in protecting brands and safeguarding consumer interest.

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