Held on Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 2 pm at Henderson Hall, Fort William, Kolkata
GENERAL
In the chair:
Gen (R) Shankar Roychowdhury , President, Lt Gen (R) J R Mukherjee , Vice President and Executive Director, Maj Gen (R) Arun Roye , and Mr V S Bhandari, Member Industry.
Members present:
Ms Karuna Singh, Ms Aparna Dutt, Prof J.K. Ray, Col Ashish Das, Mr Roney Shome,
Mr Sachin Mukherjee, Mr Arun Ghosh, Brig N Mukherjee , Mr S L Dugar, Mr Arun Ghosh
PASSING OF ACCOUNTS AND APPOINTMENT IOF AUDITORS
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , opened the proceedings and mentioned that Governing Council Members Shekhar Dutta and Ranjit Dutta were unable to attend and had notified the Council of the same.
- He read out the minutes from the last AGM and it was passed unanimously.
- He asked if there was any objection to any item in the accounts for Assessment Years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, and, with no objection recorded, the accounts were passed.
- It was decided to continue with S L Dugar & Associates as the Auditors for AY 2014-2015. The name of Mr SL Dugar was proposed by Mr Arun Ghosh and Prof Ray seconded the same. SL Dugar & Associates was unanimously appointed as auditors for CENERS-K for the next year. Mr S L Dugar was requested to send in his concurrence/acceptance in writing for records.
PATRON
- It was decided that a person of eminence as Patron, was essential for CENERS –K. Lt Gen (R) Mukherjee, noted that the patron would provide the guidance and direction for the Governing Council, and not be required to get involved in day-to-day work. Mr Roney Shome proposed the name of Gen (R) Shankar Roychowdhury, , and Brig (R) N S Mukherjee , seconded it. Gen (R) Roychowdhury ,was unanimously elected ‘Patron.’ He graciously accepted the elevation to the post of Patron of CENERS-K, an organisation he helped in raising and nurturing through the years.
ELECTION OF NEW GOVERNING COUNCIL
- Maj Gen (R) Arun Roye , stated that the response from members to undertake positions in the Governing Council has again been poor. The members who had offered their names for becoming Council Members were:-
- a) Mr V S Bhandari
b) Mr R K Dutta
c) Lt Gen J R Mukherjee ,, PVSM,AVSM,VSM
d) Ms Karuna Singh
e) Mr S Datta - Prof Jayanta Ray proposed the name of Lt Gen (R) J R Mukherjee,, the incumbent Vice President Operations, to fill in the just created vacancy of President, resulting from Gen Shankar Roychowdhury , being upgraded to Patron. Karuna Singh seconded the proposal. Lt Gen (R) Mukherjee , was unanimously elected to the post of President.
- Maj Gen (R) Roye’s , name was proposed by Col (R) Ashish Das , to fill in the vacancy of Vice President resulting from Lt Gen (R) J R Mukherjee , being elected to ‘President.’
Ms Aparna Dutt seconded the same. Maj Gen (R) Roye , stated that at present he was holding the appointment of Executive Director and since no one has come forth to take over the said appointment it would be preferable for him to continue as the Executive Director, until such time that a replacement was found. - Mr Ranjit Dutta’s name was proposed by Mr Arun Ghosh for Vice President Finance. Prof Ray seconded the proposal. Mr Dutta was unanimously re elected Vice President Finance.
- Mr Bhandari’s name was proposed by Brig (R) N S Mukherjee , for the position of Member Industry. Ms Dutt seconded the same. Mr Bhandari was unanimously elected to the post.
- Mr Shekhar Datta’s name was proposed by Mr Roney Shome as Vice President, Strategy and Planning. The same was seconded by Mr Sachin Mukherjee. Mr Shekhar Dutta was unanimously elected to the post.
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , expressed difficulty in holding the dual positions of Executive Director and Hony Secretary over the past few years. He proposed that a member be inducted as Hony Secy, and suggested the name of Karuna Singh as Hony Secretary. The name was proposed by Maj Gen (R) Arun Roye , and seconded by Lt Gen (R) J R Mukherjee,.
Ms Singh was unanimously elected to the post of Hony Secretary. It was decided that a member should assist the Hony Secretary. Prof J K Ray proposed the name of Ms Dutt. This was seconded by Mr Shome. Ms Dutt was unanimously elected to assist the Hony Secretary.
SECOND SIGNATORY FOR CHEQUES
- Maj Gen Roye , suggested that a member be appointed to cosign checks with him. It was decided that as the signatory could not be decided straight away, the signature of any of the Governing Council members would suffice as cosignatory, until a firm decision was taken by the Governing Council.
REVIEW OF EVENTS HELD
- The events held were as under:-
| DATE & COLLABORATORS 17 September, 2012 |
TOPIC
|
LOCATION
ICCR |
Speakers
Mr U Kyaw Tswe Tint, |
| 26 October, 2012 With CSA, Chennai |
Consequences of Long term Conflict in North Eastern States | ICCR | He Shri M K Narayanan Mr Gk Bhagat Lt Gen V R Raghavan Lt Gen J R Mukherjee Mr Falguni Rajkumar Ms T Monalisa Mr Samir Purkyastha Prof J K Ray Maj Gen S V Thapliyal Amb K Srinivasan Amb Veena Sikri Prof G Sachdeva |
| 20 July, 2013 | Development of NE – Can Assam be the Catalyst | NEDFI Auditorium, Guwahati |
Hon’ble Tarun Gogoi Gen S Roychowdhury Amb Kris Srinivasan Mr Shekhar Datta Lt gen J R Mukherjee Mr J N Choudhuri, DGP Mr R S Joshi, FINER Mr D N Bezbaruah Mr Jishn U Baruah Mr Mihir K Chakravarty |
PLANNED EVENTS
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , announced that there were four upcoming seminars planned:-
a) ‘Means to a Vibrant and Futuristic Bengal’ (in Kolkata)
b) ‘Indian Ocean and its Geo-Political and Geo- Strategic Imperatives’ (YTD)
c) ‘Creation of Smaller States-Pros and Cons’ (in Kolkata)
d) ‘Youth and Security Issues’ (in Imphal) - Lt Gen (R) Mukherjee , said that he had requested the CM, West Bengal to address at the first meeting on 30 October 2013, at the ICCR. It was decided to follow this up quickly by writing a letter signed by the Patron, to the CMO and firm up the event and the speakers. However, a definite date had to be fixed in consultation with her office, and based on options provided by her office.
16. Mr Bhandari suggested that the topic ‘Creation of Smaller States-Pros and Cons’ be put on hold for the moment. This was unanimously agreed upon.
17. Maj Gen (R) Roye, informed that he had booked the ICCR in January as also March 2014. However, a space needed to be identified with due diligence. Lt Gen (R) Mukherjee , requested Ms Singh and Ms Dutt to check out the Main Auditorium and the Annexe Auditorium with all their details, at the National Library and report back to the Governing Council at the next meeting. Maj Gen (R) Roye , mentioned that ICCR had been booked for October 30, 2013, and January 18th 2014, and 22 Mar 2014 for possible seminars.
AGENDA POINTS
Amendment to MoA
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , read out the proposed amendment “The President (who shall also be the Chairman) of the Governing / Executive Council, shall be elected by the Governing Council, and shall preside over the meetings of the Council. The President so elected by the Governing Council shall be for a period of Two Years. The Governing Council cannot elect the same President for a subsequent term of two years. There has to be a gap of two years prior to being re-elected as President. The erstwhile President may however offer himself to be an office bearer / member of the new Governing Council”.
19 There was some discussion on the necessity of limiting the term of office. Maj Gen (R) Roye , said it was suggested to keep the system more democratic and meet the aspirations of maximum members. Prof Ray mentioned that we were fortunate to get an excellent President, but what if no candidates offered themselves for the appointment. In that case, Mr Bhandari suggested that the outgoing President would be asked to continue holding the position. The issue remained unresolved and it was decided that the Governing Council would take a call and let all members know.
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , read out the proposed amendment to have the Governing Council members increased to ‘not less than seven. “There shall be not more than NINE (09) members and not less than SEVEN (07) members in the Governing / Executive Council, elected / selected by an AGM. These members shall be elected / selected for a period of Two years from amongst those members who have offered themselves for office. In addition, there can be ex officio members/invitees without voting rights”. And that the Governing Council should be elected for a two-year period. “
- Prof Ray mentioned that minimum 7 members was the norm and should be incorporated here as well. He suggested a 3 year period. Ms Dutt suggested the period be 2 years, with the choice of a 1 year extension. After much discussion, the consensus arrived at was that all governing Council members’ tenure should be restricted to 02 years only, after which a re-election should be held. The amendment as above was passed by majority.
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , read out the amendment to the increase in subscription for membership. PRESENT (INR) PROPOSED (INR) Individual Annual 1000 1200 Individual Life 4000 5000 Corporates – Life 40000 48000 Overseas Org/Institutions (L) 100,000 1,20,000 Kolkata based Consulates ( L) 50,000 60,000 Banks/ NGOs/ Clubs (L) 30,000 36,000 PSU/ Chambers of Commerce (L) 20,000 24,000 NRI (L) 40,000 44,000 NOTE : – Life Membership is to be renewed every SEVEN YEARS
- All increases in membership were unanimously passed. However, the proviso of renewing Life Membership after seven years was rejected by a majority..
MISCELLANEOUS POINTS
- Ms Dutt asked about how much work was generally required to be done by a Governing Council member. Maj Gen (R) Roye , said it was intermittent – more before, during, and after a large program, and easier times the rest of the year. She then offered to help the Governing Council as and when required, and it was decided that from time-to-time, as-and-when a need might arise, the Governing Council would invite other members to the meetings in the capacity of ‘Ex-Officio Members’ ‘Assistants’ and ‘Liaison Official’.
- Ms Singh, suggested that the Governing Council should look into the possibility of hiring a person to do the general running around needed so that the time of the Governing Council members could be spared for important activities. This was unanimously agreed upon. However, it was noted that at the moment no funds were available to cover the salary of such a person. However, just as soon as funds were available, a suitable person would be hired.
- Maj Gen (R) Roye , requested all members to look for opportunities for programs in the other Eastern States of Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand, also, since CENERS-K had not held programs there as yet.
- Lt Gen (R) J R Mukherjee , reminded the members that it had been agreed upon to hold a seminar that focuses on ‘Oil.’ Everyone was requested to consider a suitable topic for the same.
- Gen (R) Shankar Roychowdhury , raised the point that we need more younger members, and need to ensure that students attend our programs. There was a suggestion that student-oriented programs be held in university campuses, however, there was some concern about the facilities available in these. Ms Dutt volunteered to get the holiday list for the different universities, so that programs are avoided at times that these are shut, and thus lesser students attend CENERS-K programs. Maj Gen (R) Roye , mentioned that the Calcutta University and WB Federation of United Nations Organizations was holding a seminar later this month at the Alipore Campus of Calcutta University, when it can be checked for appropriateness.
- Lt Gen (R) Mukherjee , remarked that there were very few women members of CENERS-K and asked that the members suggest names of relevant candidates.
- Mr Dugar was invited by Maj Gen Roye , to explain some of the tax provisions.
Mr Dugar explained the difference between CENERS-K receiving funds as donations, and receiving funds as sponsorship for programs. He mentioned that donations were subject to tax. He also noted that documents should be taken from funders specifying whether the amount given was to build the corpus fund or for conducting events. As for Life Membership, he mentioned that it goes into the Corpus Fund, while annual subscriptions do not as they are recurring. He mentioned that all efforts were being made to get the Section 80 G Certification. He also suggested that it was important to get a part-time person to maintain the accounts. Gen Shankar Roychowdhury , requested Mr Dugar to suggest such a person.
conclusion
- Ms Singh proposed a Vote of Thanks to last year’s Governing Council, and deep appreciation for the tremendous work they had done, even though there was no staff to assist them. This was enthusiastically endorsed by all present.
- There being no other business transaction the AGM was called to a close.
( Arun Roye )