Mangalore, September 20: Dakshina Kannada Automobile & Tyre Dealers’ Association felicitated veteran automobile stalwart Tonse Ganapathy Pai with Lifetime Achievement Award during its 38th Annual General Meeting held on Sunday, 18th September 2022 at St Sebastian Community Hall, Bendur, Mangalore. Tonse Ganapathy Pai is the Managing Director of Pai Sales Pvt. Ltd., authorized dealers for Suzuki two wheelers in Mangalore and Udupi.
The award was conferred on Pai by the Association President Kasturi Prabhakar Pai and Treasurer Maroor Shashidar Pai in the presence of other office bearers. “Having completed over 40 successful years as an automobile dealer, he commands great respect as an industry leader who has set new standards in quality of service,” said the citation which was read by the Secretary K. Vilas Kumar. Vice President Harsha Kumar Kedge, Joint Treasurer K. Laxminarayan Nayak, Special Invitee and the award recipient’s brother T. Ratnakar Pai and managing committee members were present on the occasion.
Accepting the award, Tonse Ganapathy Pai observed that the automobile trade is facing great challenges. “The younger generation wants corporate careers and is not keen to join traditional family run business. Hence we should involve children in our business from a very young age,” he said. Observing that unhealthy competition is killing the trade, he urged the trade to show unity and act like one family. Stressing upon the lack of protection to dealers and small business, he said, if multinational vehicle manufacturers find their business to be not profitable, they shut down their operations overnight and the franchisees are left in the lurch. “We invest crores of rupees and hundreds of employees depend on us. In foreign countries, there are laws to protect the interests of the franchisees in the event of closure of parent companies. The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations is trying to convince the union government to introduce similar legislation to protect the franchisees,” he informed.
Felicitation of Outstanding Students
During the last decade, the association has been felicitating the children of members and their employees during the Annual General Meeting. This year 13 students were felicitated with certificates and cash awards for extraordinary performance in SSLC and PUC examinations. The students are children of employees of Karnataka Agencies, Supreme Auto Dealers, Ajanta Lubricants & Accessories, Shree Nidhi Automobiles, Arvind Motors, Rollmark, Automark, Steffin Automobiles, Laxmi Damodar Trading Co., and Vishram Motors. Seven new members were inducted into the association and welcomed with flowers. The function included a trade fair with display stalls of various product manufacturers and distributors.
Association President Kasturi Prabhakar Pai welcomed the gathering. Prasanna KR rendered the invocation. Secretary K. Vilas Kumar presented the annual report of the association. Treasurer Maroor Shashidhar Pai presented the financial accounts of the Association. B. S. Anil Rao proposed vote of thanks. Manaswitha Rao compered the programme.
