Points sent for discussion at AGM on 15-12-2012
Anil Bakshi, Personnel Search Associates
Dated : 11th Dec 2012
The Secretary
SJA Alumni Association
12, Rajpur Road
Dehra Dun
Sub : Points for discussion in the AGM on 15th Dec 2012
Dear Mr. Chandhok,
I have gone through a very well drafted AGM notice and would like
to congratulate you on such a herculean task, done in an extremely professional
manner.
I however have a few points to be discussed in the AGM – 2012 on
the following topics
1. Election Bye-laws
2. Postal Ballot
3. Cessation of Membership
4. Proposed Chapters of the Association
5. Procedure of raising points at the AGM
A) ELECTION BYE-LAWS
Election BYE LAWS point no.4 “The criteria for minimum tenure as MC
member shall not be applicable for
1st Election to be held in December 2011”, needs some
clarifications
It
was proposed and passed as “for the first and second elections”
earlier.
If the Criteria of
minimum tenure as mentioned is adopted, would it mean that in the election of
2013 , the current MC members can
only contest for the 5 senior positions
OR
The 5 senior already elected
MC members will / can change their positions between themselves and contest,
and so for future elections of the above also ,only members who have
completed more than 15 yrs can contest for the position of president, Hence,
further limiting the scope of contestants. Similarly for the position of “V.P
Outstation”, there will be no outstation member contesting as the current “V.P
Outstation” would be serving a cooling off period and there are no other
outstation members on the MC. In fact for the post of “VP Outstation” the
limitations should be waived off.
1) In point 4 (b) – Please note that the reservation for women candidate was passed in the last AGM 2011 as One Senior and one junior category reserved (i.e. 10 yrs plus and less than 10 yrs) The current proposed amendment states that 2 women candidates seats are reserved without any clear clarification on the same. The Minutes of the meeting of Second AGM are as mentioned :
“The Coordinator read item no. 6 of the Agenda – “To amend Clause 7 (2)(a) of the Rules and Regulation of the Association and substitute the same to be read as under: “Formation: The Managing Committee of the Association shall consist of a President, two Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, four Senior Members and three other Members. Total 12 Members. One seat each shall be reserved for women candidates in the Senior Members category and other Members Category respectively; however in the event of women candidates not filing valid nominations, male members may be elected to fill in the vacancy in the respective category(ies).”
Mr. Sanjay Bhutani proposed that the amendment of clause 7(2) (a) be accepted as proposed in the AGM notice which was seconded by Mr. Kapil Arora. The house by a majority of voice votes accepted the proposed motion. Accordingly clause 7(2) (a) stands amended and substituted in the Rules & regulations as proposed in the notice of the AGM.”
Please clarify if you are removing the seniority clause. If so, I would propose to continue with the old clause.
B)
Postal Ballot
The points related to postal ballots are all correct as to my knowledge, I am looking forward to the MC accepting a resolution for accepting and implementing E-VOTING for the next general elections and elections at the chapters. This is a forward looking step, in the interest of Alumni settled outside Doon and even for those although residing in Doon , but are not able to make it to the elections personally. I don’t think I need to list the advantages of e-voting as they are known to all.
C) Cessation of membership
Proposal to increase
the limit for cessation of membership for non payment of dues from 3 to 5 yrs
I do not support this move for the following reasons
:
a) It is an injustice to paying members of the association
b) The probability of recovering the dues and retaining these memberships is very low even after 3 years so why extend for another 2 years.
c) Changing the time period is like shifting the onus of removing the membership to the next elected MC
D) Chapters of the Association/Society:
1)
Point No.9 (I) sub clause (f) The term
of the Chapter council along with their tenure is stated to be “one term” along
with a cooling off period of One term, if the member wishes to contest for the
same post.
I would like to make
a point here : The Chapter will be of a minimum of 20 members and as we can see
in the future there might be 100 plus members both in Delhi and Mumbai, but, the
possibility of same might be not there in Eg: Hyderabad or Sikkim etc , in all
these cases along with Delhi and Mumbai, the , council MIGHT be consisting of
SAME THREE members for years , with just changing of seats, in which case, it is
requested to set the term to a max of ONE or TWO terms for any member to be in
the council, which will generate interest of other new / old members to come in
and take over the reins and also help us in curbing the practice of power.
2)
I would recommend add a
minimum criteria of passing out from school to be a part of the chapter council,
and it should be considered the same as in case of SJA AA norms, i.e Coordinator
– 15 yrs, Secretary and treasurer – 10 yrs each. However , if , there are more
than 20 members and this criteria fails to meet, than at least any two members should fulfill the
minimum passing out criteria .
3)
OBJECTS OF LOCAL CHAPTERS – Point III
sub clause (a) “The local chapters shall assist the MC of
SJA AA Dehra Dun” .
I would like the house to interpret
what the word “ASSIST” means ?
I feel that Chapters have a responsibility
towards the local chapter members and are equal members of the main body. A
reporting or Assisting responsibility to the main body cannot be a charter of
the chapters. The objective of the chapter is to provide only a social network
to the members of the SJA AA . It is an extension of SJA AA and not a
franchise.
I would request the honorable MC to clarify the roles in which it
seeks assistance from the Chapter council
4)
LOCAL CHAPTERS – Point IV sub clause (e)
and (f) and others – “the Local chapters must seek approval of the
Associations MC in a manner prescribed by it, before engaging in any fund
raising activity “ .
Will the honorable MC be kind
enough to announce the actions for which an approval needs to be sought, the
process thereof and the “approving authority”. I hope that enough care will be
taken such that the pre-approval process does not affect the dignity of the
chapter council members
5)
Chapter Council – Voting – “No
postal ballot or e ballot shall be allowed for local chapters elections “
The laws of
chapter council election should not differ from the laws of the main body.
Postal election & e-voting should be permitted for chapters also to
encourage healthy participation by chapter members.
6)
In
point VI C it is stated that “ The elections of the local chapter shall
be held in the month of AUGUST “and
in Point VII A it is mentioned that “the AM should be held every year in the
month of JUNE “ ,
If these two can be clubbed to happen as one event
it will be convenient for the chapter members and also prove to be cost
effective.
7)
The responsibility of the main
body towards the local chapters is not defined. The method of funding the local
chapters and sharing of membership funds is also not mentioned.
I’d request the honorable MC to define the same
E) Process of raising points at AGM
I herein object to the process of raising points at the AGM that
requires the proposer and the seconder to be physically present at the AGM. The
MC has in the process forgotten the Outstation members as well as those who are
unable to attend for various reasons.
If you consider these points valid enough, I would request you to
bring them to the notice of the AGM. I would also request you to review the
method of asking questions at the AGM .
I would hereby like to once again extend my support to current MC
I would propose that the current MC be given an extended term as MC ELECT (ELECTED for term 2013-2015 as
well) to meet the following objectives
(1) Introducing E Voting for next elections
(2) Resolving and
addressing the issues of unpaid members and either bringing collections from
them or striking them off the membership list.
(3) Finalising a positive
workable draft and norms for the chapters and implementing them.
(4) Bringing
the focus of the Alumni Association to work for the welfare of
Alumni’s.
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely
Anil Bakshi
Member (Membership No.SJA - A891)
SJA Alumni Association
Dehra Dun
Regards,
Personnel Search Associates
A-6, (IInd Floor) Prehladpur
Surajkund Road
New Delhi - 110044