THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAIoldcscs.freecrow.com/html/Asiatictemp/021 Minutes of...THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 7TH

THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI

MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL GENERAL BODY MEETINGHELD ON THURSDAY, 7TH AUGUST, 2003.

The Special General Body Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai (ASM) was held on Thursday, 7th August,2003, at 5.00 p.m. in the Durbar Hall of the Society. The President of the Society, Mr. B.G. Deshmukh,presided over the meeting.

This meeting had been called to discuss the change in the date of holding the AGM announced earlier. TheManaging Committee had taken a decision to hold the 199th AGM on Saturday, 30th August, 2003. About 66members requisitioned a Special General Body Meeting for change in the AGM date in view of the GaneshFestival on 31st August. Since the requisition for holding the meeting was in order (as per Rule 9 of the Rulesand Regulations of the Society) the Special General Body Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai was calledon 7th August, 2003 to consider and if deemed fit to pass the following resolutions :

"Resolved that the 199"1 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai be held on 23rdAugust, 2003."

The following members were present;

Mr. V. Ashokkumar, Mr. Anoop Babani, Mr. Rafique Baghdadi, Mrs. Usha Banerji, Mr.Bansode Bhagwat, Mr.M.W. Bhagwat, Mr. Giriraj Bodbadkar, Mr. K.B. Dabke, Dr.(Mrs.) Cynthia Deshmukh, Dr.(Mrs.) DevanganaDesai, Mr. K.G. Dhargavkar, Mr. Sunil Dighe, Mr. K. Haridas, Dr.(Mrs.) Kamala Ganesh, Mr. M.K. Gokhale, Mr.Rajan Jayakar, Ms. Cham Jhaveri, Mr. S.S. Joshi, Mr. S.H. Kalsekar, Mr.Satish S. Kamat, Mr.Y.H. Kamble,Dr.(Mrs.) Mani Kamerkar, Dr. Gita Kasturi, Ms.M.P. Kelawaia, Mr.Jayant A. Kher, Dr. C.N. Khergaonkar, Mr.M.R. Kolhatkar, Ms.Tejee Kondkar, Mr.Eknath A. Kshirsagar, Mr. M.D. Kulkarni, Mr. L.G. Kulkarni, Mr. R.R.Kulkarni, Mr. Rajiv Laud, Mr. Arvind Mambro, Mr. D.R. Marathe, Mr. S.B. Naik, Ms. Rajeswari S. Nair, Mrs.Nalini M. Pandit, Mr. Anil Puna Patil, Mr. R.N. Patkar, Ms. Lamba Premkumar, Mr. C.A. Poal, Ms. SeemaRaghavan, Dr. B.R. Rairikar, Dr. Mridula Ramanna, Mr. P.P. Ramchandran, Mr. Prakash Reddy, Mr. S.S. Rege,Ms. Indira Renu, Mrs. L.N. Renu, Mr. D.S. Sathe, Mr. S.S. Shah, Mrs. Vimal Shah, Dr.(Mrs.) MangalaSirdeshpande, Mr. A.V. Sonawale and Mr. Vithalrao W. Sonavane.

At the outset, the President spoke about the background against which the meeting had been called and howas per the Rules it was important to hold the meeting before the end of August of the year.

Mr. M.R. Kolhatkar piloting the resolution traced the history of the Ganpati festival in the state of Maharashtraand said it was very important that members who wished to attend the festival in their native places be facilitatedto attend the ritual in their native places. He said that it was necessary for this purpose to advance the date ofAGM by seven days.

Supporting him, Dr. B.R. Rairikar reiterated that the AGM date be changed so that both the members of thestaff as well as the members of the Society coutd attend the Ganpati pooja celebrations.

Mr. Sunil Dighe expressed very strongly in favour of change of the AGM date. Thereafter, many other membersparticipated in the discussion and spoke both in favour and against Ihe resolution.

Taking the general sense of the House, the President accepted the request for preponement of the AGM. Hethen announced that the 199th Annual General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai be held on Friday,29th August, 2003, at 5.00 p.m. instead of Saturday, 30th August, 2003 and that the Agenda for the

meeting would remain the same as it is for the earlier Notice dated 11th July, 2003 circulated to the membersand that the Election time will be from 5.00 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.

The meeting then terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chair.

Mr. B.G. Deshmukh Mrs. Vimal ShahPresident Hon. Secretary


MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL BODY MEETINGHELD ON FRIDAY, 29TH AUGUST, 2003.

The 199th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai (ASM) was held on Friday, 29thAugust, 2003, at 5.00 p.m. in the Durbar Hall of the Society. Mr. B.G Deshmukh, President, presided over themeeting.

The following members were present:

Mr Saleem A. Ahmadullah, Dr. (Mrs.) Indira S. Aiyar. Mr. Kartik S. Aiyar, Mr. Joseph St. Anne, Mr. Salim SirajAnsari, Dr. Prabha Apte, Dr. A. B. Bakre, Dr. A. K. Banerji, Mrs. Usha Banerji, Mr. Bhagwat Bansode, Ms. LalitaR. Barve, Mr. J. R. Behlihomji, Ms. M. J Behlihomji, Mr B. N. Bhandarkar, Mr. R. G. Bhatkal, Mr. DharmeshBhatt, Mr. Sanjay Bhide, Mr. Dilip M. Bhone, Mr. Sudhakar V. Borkar, Mr. M. N. Cama, Dr.(Ms.) Gita Chadha,Mr. I M Chagla, Mr. Shyam H. Chainani. Ms Paulami Chakraborty, Mr Y V Chandrachud, Mr. M. N. Chatterjee,Dr, K K Chaudhari, Mr.Baldeo G. Chawla, Mr. Aloysius D'souza, Mr. K. B. Dabke, Mr. Katy F. Dalai, Mr.ArjunDangle, Mrs. Nancy R Daruwala, Mr. R. J. Daruwala, Mr. Vidyadhar Date, Mr. S. P. Deodhar, Dr. (Mrs.)Devangana J. Desai, Dr. (Mrs.) Kalpana Desai, Mrs. Roza Deshpande, Mr. U. G. Devi, Mr. Raja Dhale, Ms.Kalpana Dhar, Mr. V. K. Dharamsey, Mr. K. G Dhargalkar, Ms Z H. E. Dhariwala, Ms. Soonu J. Dhunjisha, Mr.Sunii D. Dighe, Dr. Sarayu Doshi, Mr. Veerkumar S. Doshi, Mrs.Sharada Dwivedi, Mr. Sorab P. Engineer, Mr.M. Fernandes, Ms. Fiona Fernandez, Mr. G. Gadgil, Mr. Jayant G. Gadkari, Dr. (Mrs) Kamala Ganesh, Mr.Hasmukh B. Gandhi, Mr.Amrit Gangar, Mrs. Pheroza J. Godrej, Mr. M K. Gokhale, Mr. R. S. Gopalan, Ms.VijayaGupchup, Mr. V. K. Gupta, Ms. Janki A Gurbaxani, Mr K Handas. Mr. N. S. Havanur, Ms. Rivka Israel; Dr.Mohan V. Jagade, Ms Charu Jhaveri. Mr. J. D. Joglekar, Mr. Abhijit Joshi, Dr. N N. Joshi, Mr. P. G. Joshi, Mr.S. M. Joshi, Mrs.Sunanda Joshi. Mr. S. B. Kadam, Mr. Sunil Kadam, Mr. Pramod Kale, Mr. S. G. Kale, Mr. S. H.Kalsekar, Mrs. P. G. Kamat, Mr.Ashok G. Kamble. Mr. S. N. Kamble. Mr. Y. H. Kamble, Mr. Yogesh Kamdar, Dr.(Mrs.) Mani Kamerkar, Mr. Vasant Kamte, Ms. K. D. Kanitkar, Mr. D. J. Kanvinde, Ms.Shivani V, Kapadia, Ms.Soonu Kapadia, Mr. D. S. Karadkar, Dr.(Mrs.) Gita Kasturi, Mr. I. S. Kazi, Ms. Meher P. Kelawala, Mr.Jayant A.Kher, Mrs. Sanjeevani Kher, Mr.C. N. Khergaonkar, Mr. T. R Kilachand, Mr. V. S. Kiratkudave, Mr M. R.Kolhatkar, Ms. Tejee Kondkar, Dr. S. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. E. A. Kshirsagar, Mrs. Meenal Kshirsagar, Ms. ShirinKudchedkar, Ms. L. G. Kulkarni, Dr.Mangesh Kulkarni, Ms. Mrinal Kulkarni, Dr. V. M. Kulkarni, Mr V. AshokKumar, Mr. M. V. Kumara, Mr. Sachin R. Kurukalikar, Mr. A. V. Lalachan, Mr. Rajiv Laud, Mr.M. Y. Madan, Mr. M.R. Madhavan, Ms. Kanchan Mahadevan, Mr. Bansi Mehta, Mr. Kishor G. Mehta, Mr. Nitin S. Mehta, Mr.Jehangir Merwanji, Mr. M. B. Meshram, Ms. Usha Mirchandani, Mr. Hirji C. Mistry, Mrs. Prachi Moghe, Ms.Arundhati A. Mundlay, Mr. J. V. Naik, Mr. S B. Naik, Ms Rajeswan S. Nair, Dr.(Ms.)Kalindi C. Nanavati, Mr. K.G. Narayanan, Mr. H. Omprakash, Mr. S. K. Ookerjee, Mr. Ramesh Oza, Mr. Akbar Padamsee, Ms. BhanumatiN. Padamse, Mr. S. P. Padgaonkar, Dr. G. K . Pai, Mr. S. K. Pande. Mr Kishor G. Pandit, Mr. M. M. Pandit. Mrs.Nalini M. Pandit, Mr. Rameshchandra Pandya, Mr. G. G. Parikh. Ms. Sangeeta Parmar. Mr N. P. Parulekar, Mr.Shirish Patel, Mr. Anil Patil, Ms. Kalpana R. Patii. Ms.Mangala V. Patil. Dr. N. B. Patil. Mr. Ramesh Patkar, Mr.

VijayM. Patwardhan, Mr.PeterConder Pegu, Mr. C. A. Poal, Ms. Seema Raghavan, Dr. B. R. Rairikar, Mr.KrishnaRaj, Ms. Jawahar Raja, Ms. Lata Raje, Mr. P. P. Ramachandran, Mr. R. V. Ramdas, Mr. Dinesh R. Rana, Mr.Dilip G. Ranade, Mr, T. J. Ravishankar, Mr.Prakash Reddy, Ms. Chaitra Redkar, Mr. Subhash S. Rege, Mr.Richard G. Remedios, Mr. Arun M. Sadhu, Mr. Ram Salvi, Swami B. Saraswati, Mr. D. S. Sathe, Mr. S. D.Sathe, Ms.Feroza H. Seervai, Mr. K. K. Shah, Mr. S. S. Shah, Ms. Sona! H. Shah, Mr. V. B. Shah, Mrs. VimalShah, Mr. Ashok Shahane, Mr. Govind Shahanl, Ms. Roshan Shahani, Mr. Shafi M. Shaikh, Mr. Murari Sharma,Ms. S. Shashiciharan, Mr. Naren Sheth, Mr. B. V. Shetti, Mr. Ashok R. Shinde, Mr. Vasant Shirali, Mr. PankajShrivastav, Mr. Sanjay Singhvi, Dr. (Mrs.) Mangala R. Sirdeshpande, Mr. Arvind V. Sonawale, Dr.(Mrs.) UshaThakkar, Ms. Chandrika M. Thakker, Mr. Jaisingh R. Thakur, Ms. Sai Thakur, Mr.Milind Thatte, Dr. AroonTikekar, Mr. Arvind P. Vaze, Dr.(Mrs-) Vidya Venkatesan, Mr. N. Venkatesh, Dr.(Sr) Anila Verghese, Mr. KrishnaVishwanath, Mr.Chandravadan P. Vora, Mr. Rusheed R. Wadia, Mr. Harish Wagle and Mr. Atmaram N. Walinjkar.

The Hon. Secretary, Mrs. Vimal Shah, welcomed the members and requested the President, Mr. B.G. Deshmukh,to take over the proceedings of the meeting.

The President called the meeting to order. He then requested all the members to rise and observe twominutes silence in memory of all those members who had passed away between the two AGMs. The membersobserved two minutes silence.

Thereafter, the Returning Officer, Mr. Kartik Aiyar, explained to the members the election procedure. He alsopointed out that observers and scrutineers were required to be appointed immediately. He further said that thetime of voting would be from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. instead of up to 7.00 p.m. Some members objected to theextension by one hour.

The President explained that the meeting was taking place on a working day at 5.00 p.m. and at the request ofsome members time had to be extended till 8.00 p.m.

A discussion followed and President then sought vote on this issue. The general sense and mood of theHouse was to continue the elections till 8.00 p.m.

After this, the first item on the agenda was taken up.

The notice of the meeting dated 8th August, 2003, which was circulated earlier informing the members aboutthe change in the date of AGM, was read. The President said that the Agenda for the meeting remained thesame as in the earlier Notice sent to the members on 11th July, 2003.

Item No. 1:

To confirm the minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Saturday, 24th August, 2002 and the AdjournedMeeting dated Saturday, 5th October, 2002.

The President took up Item No. 1 of the Agenda and informed the house that the minutes had been circulatedand before circulation the draft minutes of the two AGMs had been kept in the office for six weeks for membersto go through to make corrections. The corrections given by the members were later incorporated afterchecking with the original cassettes. Thereafter, the minutes were placed before the members for adoption.

Mrs. Feroza Seervai proposed that the minutes be adopted and subject to the deletion suggested by Dr B.R.Rairikar of a sentence on page 9, para 7 of the minutes the AGM held on 24th August, 2002 - "After discussionthe budget for the year 2002-2003 was adopted."

Thereafter, subject to the deletion as suggested by Dr. B.R. Rairikar, the minutes of the AGM held on Saturday,24th August, 2002 and the Adjourned Meeting dated Saturday, 5th October, 2002 were confirmed by theGeneral Body.

Thereafter, Item Nos. 2 & 3 were taken up for discussion.

Item No. 2:

To elect 5 members of the Committee of Management for three years, 2003-2006 and to elect the officebearers for two years 2003-2005.

Item No. 3:

To elect a Scrutinizing Committee consisting of seven members for the year 2003-2004 as required by Rule 6of the Rules and Regulations of the Society for the purpose of scrutinizing applications for Membership andReadership of the Society.

The Returning Officer, Mr. Kartik Aiyar, suggested appointment of scrutinizers and observers from the Housefor elections. The following persons were nominated from the General Body to act as observers :

1) Mr. Ram Salvi;2) Mr. A.V. Sonavale; 8.3) Mrs. Sunnu Dhunjishah

The following persons were appointed for conduct of voting and vote counting :

1) Mr. Haridas K;2) Mr. Kishore Mehta;3) Dr. Dilip Rajgor;4) Ms. Meher P. Kelawala; and5) Mr. Suril Shah

The meeting was then adjourned for half an hour to enable the members to caste their votes. The meetingthen reassembled after 30 minutes to transact the business of the AGM

Thereafter, Item No. 4 was taken up.

Item No. 4:

The President read out Item No. 4 of the Agenda.

"To receive and adopt the Annual Report and the Audited Statement of Accounts of the Asiatic Society ofBombay for the year 2002-2003."

He said that the budget estimates for the year 2003-2004 was only for information of the members

Mr. M.R. Kolhatkar said that the venue of voting had been changed and those responsible for the change invenue were responsible for the long queue for voting inside the meeting hall.

Referring to the Annual Report, he took objections to :

i) the word 'scholastic' on page 2, para 2, line 1 and said that the word should have been 'scholarly.'ii) page 3, para 4 and objected to the words 'professional Librarian.' He said there were three Technical

Assistants working in the Library and so by saying this it amounted to disparity to these threeappointed staff,

iii) page 4, para 1. line 5 and said that "a" be added before the words "few books" so as to read as "a fewbooks under the scheme."

iv) page 13, para 4, line 2, that the words "Indian Express" be deleted,v) page 52-53 and said that his name be deleted from the various Sub-Committees.

vi) He was happy that the staff Provident Fund account had been handed over to the Regional ProvidentFund Commissioner's office but there was no mention about the payment of loss on this account tothe staff.

vii) He was happy that a professional Librarian was appointed by the Society but proper rules and procedureswere not followed while appointing. He said the Managing Committee had made this appointmentand this procedure should be followed only in exceptional circumstances.

viii) Page 4 of the Annual Report regarding the proposed Bicentenary Programmes under Item No. 2 i e.Seminars and Conferences. A seminar and two conferences organised which were all related toliterature, literary theory and literary criticism while Society's specialisation lay in Ancient IndianHistory and Culture and that there was no programme on these subjects and this was a great lacunaand about the expenditure on conferences he said that there must be some sense in organising suchconferences

-Under Item 1 i.e. "Events," he referred to Item No. (xii) i.e. Programme for future cooperation between ASMand BCCI, IMC, CH and F ICC I and pointed out that how commercial organisations like IMC, CM, etc. had beennamed for collaborative arrangements. He said that the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and MaharashtraEconomic Development Council should have also been associated.

Dr. B.R. Rairikar referred to a letter addressed by him to the President of the Society, Mr. B.G. Deshmukh inwhich he had raised some crucial queries. He sought action taken report which had not been sent to him. Healso said that the payment of bonus should also include Dearness Allowances (D.A.).

He referred to the proposed Bicentenary Programmes on page 4 under Events, (ix) and wished to know ifconsent from the players had been received for the cricket match as a part of the Bicentenary Programme.Dr. Rairikar was highly critical of the working of the Kane Institute and said that there was a need to set up afoundation and income from the donations received could be utilised for awarding fellowship to carryoutserious research projects in the Society. He also insisted on 60 % attendance of the total number of meetingsfor all the members of the Managing Committee as well as the sub-committees.

At this stage, Mrs. Feroza Seervai requested the President to allot time to the members who wished to speak.

There was no further discussion.

Proposed by Dr. B.R. Rairikar and seconded by Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, the Annual Report for the year 2002-2003was adopted unanimously

Thereafter, the Audited Statement of Accounts of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai for the year 2002-2003 wastaken up. After discussion it was adopted.

Thereafter, Item No. 5 was taken up for discussion.

Item No. 5:

The following resolution passed unanimously by the Managing Committee at its meeting held on 14th August,2003, is recommended to the General Body for approval.

''Resolved that Sarvashri Virendra B. Shah and A.D. Bhorkar, Chartered Accountants be and are herebyappointed Joint Auditors of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai (ASM) from the conclusion of this Annual GeneralMeeting until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the ASM on such honorarium as may befixed by the Managing Committee."

-Proposed by: Mr. K. B. DabkeSeconded by: Mrs. Vimal Shah

There was no discussion and the resolution was passed unanimously.

Thereafter, Resolution No. 6 was taken up.

item No. 6:

To invite two prominent persons to be the Trustees of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai as per the recommendationof the Managing Committee.

The Hon. Secretary informed the House that the Managing Committee had unanimously recommendedappointment of Dr. Mohanbhai Patel and Mrs. Keti Mehta as Trustees for a further term of six years

Dr. B.R. Rairikar while supporting Mrs. Keti Mehta's candidature expressed reservation on the appointment ofDr. Mohanbhai Patel. Mr. MR. Kolhatkar said that the attendance in the hall was small and there were morepeople in the queue and. therefore, he said that voting be deferred. He said that by getting through theagenda, the President was only denying participation of the members and this was not a correct procedureHe said there were many resolutions and so the decisions could not be rushed through in this matter. Mrs.RozaDeshpande and Mr. M.N. Chatterji both supported Dr. Rairikar.

The President, Mr. Deshmukh, said that it had been the practice of the Asiatic Society to simultaneouslyconduct elections and carry on with the business of the AGM and that he was only following that tradition.

Dr. Mani Kamerkar said that the President had only followed the practice about adjourning the House for halfan hour for voting. She further said that every member was aware of this practise in the Society of simultaneouslyconducting the AGM and the elections. It was not correct on the part of any member to ask for stopping theelections. She said members interested in the resolutions were required to sit in the House and participate inthe proceedings of the AGM

Dr. Rairikar insisted on discontinuing the AGM discussion until such time the voting was over and membersreturned to their seats to attend the proceedings of the AGM. The President reiterated his stand by saying thathe was only following the past practice of the Asiatic Society. Mr M.R. Kolhatkar said that Dr. Rairikar hadopposed reappointment of Dr. Mohanbhai Patel as one of the Trustees of the Society as Dr. Patel was associatedwith several private technical institutes with their dubious record in respect of admissions and the SupremeCourt had issued judgement concerning such Institutions and practises followed with regard to admissions.

Mr. B.G. Deshmukh pointed out that some observations had been made against Dr Mohanbhai Pate! andunless a specific instance was given in support of the observation, it was not fair to accept such an observation.

After this the following resolution was put to vote and was adopted by a majority :-

"Resolved that Dr. Mohanbhai Patel and Mrs. Keti Mehta be reappointed as the Trustee of the Society for afurther term of six years."

Proposed by : Mr. Yogesh KamdarSeconded by : Mrs. Vimal Shah

Thus, it was resolved that Dr. Mohanbhai Patel and Mrs, Keti Mehta be reappointed as the Trustees of theSociety for a further term of six years (i.e. till the end of the AGM, 2009).

The meeting then took up the resolution proposed by the Managing Committee.

The Hon. Secretary read out the next resolution regarding the employees representative on the ManagingCommittee.

2) Amendment to Rule 14(a) :

Add the following to Rule 14(a) after the second para, the following:

In addition to Ihe elected members, there will be one each representative of the Central Government andthe State Government, who will attend the meetings of the Managing Committee as wel! as the GeneralBody. They will have no right to vote. Their travelling and other expenses will be borne by the respectiveGovernments.

In addition, there will be a representative of the staff on the Managing Committee, elected by the Employees'Association. The said representative will not have the rights and privileges of an elected member includingthe right to vote. He may participate in the discussion on items of agenda of the Managing Committeeconcerning the employees only. His tenure will be for two years and will have to be re-elected by theemployees thereafter.

Dr. B.R. Rairikar at this stage suggested that there were two resolutions on the same subject proposed by himand duly seconded by Mrs. Roza Deshpande and Mr. K. Haridas respectively.

In (he discussion that followed, Dr. Rairikar pointed out that a resolution to this effect had been adopted by theGeneral Body two years back and asked why the same resolution had come before the General Body. ThePresident explained that since She resolution did not come by way of amendment to Rule 14(a) to complete thetechnical formality this resolution was necessary.

Mrs. Feroza Seervai said that as and when the State and the Central Governments made substantial grants tothe Society and demanded that their representatives be on the Managing Committee then alone the Societycould do so. She said that this could be an 'empowering' resolution The President explained that this wasonly an enabling resolution. He further said that we must establish rapport with the State and the CentralGovernments which would help in getting government grants. He then requested Dr. Rairikar to suggest anamendment to the Managing Committee's resolution regarding the points suggested by him from hisresolutions i.e. Resolution Nos. 6 & 7.

Dr. Rairikar suggested his amendments that the representatives of the State and the Central Governmentsshall be ex-officio members of the Managing Committee. Their tenure would be decided by the respectivegovernments and their rights and privileges would be the same as the elected members of the ManagingCommittee. He said that this was a substantive amendment. Mr. Yogesh Kamdar said that the rights andprivileges of the Government representatives could not be the same as those of the elected members of theManaging Committee. He further said that if this was done then they would have a say in several matters andthat they be given no voting rights.

Mr. M.R. Kolhatkar, who spoke next, said that prior to bifurcation, the Government Representatives were onthe Managing Committee and he wondered how restrictions arose now. He said that it was good to haveassociation of the Government and that it could harm and as well as help the Society. And that a channel ofcommunication be established with the Government with no restrictions. He said that the Society shun itsimaginary fear. He said that if the T.A./D.A. was imposed on the representatives then it was the sure recipefor not attending the meetings. This could be imposed by suggestions. He wished to know who bore the T.A./D A. expenses of the Hon. Secretary, who was on the Management Council of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, asthe Central Government nominee.

The President pointed out that Mrs, Vimal Shah personally and not in her capacity as the Hon. Secretary of theSociety was representative on the Management Council of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. The Hon. Secretaryinformed Mr. Kolhatkar that it was the Central Government that bore her T.A. and DA. expenses.

Dr. Rairikar asked whether the expenditure incurred on such a representative was borne by the sponsoringbody. Therefore, he suggested that "borne by the ASM subject to availability of funds." He said that the

Society had (o create funds to finance and there could not be a representative without funds and the Governmenthad to act as a watchman of ihe Society. He further pointed out that funding had to come from the State andthe Central Governments to ensure smooth administration of the Society's activities and (here could not befunding from the Governments without representation. He said in the event of liquidation of the Society, it wasthe Government that would takeover the institution and to maintain day and night vigil on the expenditure, theGovernments had to act as a watch dog and, therefore, it was necessary to have Government Representativeson the Managing Committee and in order to complete this formality it was necessary to get the amendmentthrough.

The amendment of Dr. B.R. Rairikarwas not carried. The resolution of the Managing Committee was adoptedby the General Body and letters to this effect were asked to be sent to the Central & State Governments.

The following two paras have been added to Rule 14(a), after second para.

"In addition to the elected members, (here will be one each representative of theCentral Government and the State Government, who will attend the meetings ofthe Managing Committee as well as the.General Body. They will have no right tovote. Their travelling and other expenses will be borne by the respectiveGovernments.

In addition, there will be a representative of the staff on the Managing Committee,elected by the Employees. The said representative will not have the rights andprivileges of an elected member including the right to vote. He/she may participatein the discussion on items of agenda of the Managing Committee concerning theemployees only. His/her tenure will be for two years and he/she shall be eligible forre-election."

Item No. 7:

The following resolutions submitted by the members were considered by the Managing Committee at itsmeeting held on 14th August, 2003. The Committee resolved to place these resolutions before the GeneralBody at its Annual General Meeting on Friday, 29th August, 2003, for consideration.

The Comments of the Managing Committee on the Resolutions are given at the appropriate places below -

Resolved that Rule 6(f) of the Rules and Regulations of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai Revised Copy(2002) be modified as follows:

Replace 'Hon. Secretary' by 'either the Convenor or the Chairman of the Scrutinizing Committee.'

Explanation :

The Scrutinizing Committee was formed to delink the administration process. The ScrutinizingCommittee is duly elected by the General Body every year to perform the admission function. So, itis the Office Bearers of the Scrutinizing Committee, i.e., either the Chairman or the Convenor, thatshould be taking the admission process to completion by informing the candidate of the status of hisapplication.

Proposed by : Rajiv LaudSeconded by : Y. H. Kamble

Managing Committee's Comments :The rule need not be changed. The Honorary Secretary is only the post office. The ManagingCommittee does not recommend the resolution.

While proposing the Resolution, Mr. Rajiv Laud pointed out the Scrutinizing Committee was formed to delinkthe admission process. Both the Scrutinizing Committee and the Managing Committee were elected by andanswerable to the AGM. The Hon. Secretary supervised only the administrative functions of the Society andshould not be signing the correspondences of the Scrutinizing Committee. Mr. Y. H. Kamble said that theHon. Secretary was not the Secretary of any Sub-Committees but she was the Hon. Secretary of the AsiaticSociety of Mumbai. Dr. Kamala Ganesh said that the Hon. Secretary was only informing about the decisionsof the Scrutinizing Committee to the applicants and, therefore, she was not influencing the process of scrutinyof applications and she derived no advantage from it.

Mr. M.R. Kolhatkar said that the Hon. Secretary's duties were to complete the administrative task. He said thatthere were several cases of manipulation in the past in informing the applicants. He specifically mentionedinstances regarding Mr. Justice Iqbal Chagla and Mrs. Roza Deshpane. He said these malpractices had to becurbed. He said that this was a wholesome resolution and be accepted. Mrs. Feroza Seervai made it veryclear that the Hon. Secretary's signature was necessary while sending the letters to the applicants informingthem about the approval of their membership. She said both the Hon. Secretary and the Convenor/Chairmanhad to sign on such letters.

•

Thereafter, the amended resolution was put to vote and was passed by majority.

Thus, the modified Rule 6(0 would read as under -

6(0 The applicant for membership shall be duly informed of the decision ofhis/her application by the Hon. Secretary and the Convenor/Chairmanof the Scrutinizing Committee.

Resolution No. 2 was taken up.•

2) Resolved that clause 7 of the Constitution be deleted and the subsequent clauses be renumbered asrequired.

Proposed by : B. R. RairikarSeconded by : Roza Deshpande

Managing Committee's Comments : •

The Managing Committee does not recommend this resolution as it is an honour to have the Governoras the Patron of the Society.

•

The proposer of this resolution, Dr. B.R. Rairikar, withdrew this resolution.•

Resolution No. 3 was taken up.

•

3) Resolved that figure 7 be deleted from clause 57(a).


Managing Committee's Comments :This resolution does not survive

While proposing the resolution, Dr. B.R. Rairikar pointed out that in clause 57(a), the Patron would be removedby 2/3rd majority- He strongly felt that the Governor should not be allowed to be removed even by 2/3r" majority.He, therefore, recommended that figure 7 be deleted from clause 57(a). He said that the Governor had toremain the Chief Patron of the Society and if he committed any misdeeds, the State Government would take

steps to punish him and would remove him.

This resolution was accepted by the General Body and it was resolved to delete figure 7 from clause 57(a).

Thus, the modified Rule 57(a) would now read as follows:

57.(a) The Rules of the Society are subject to addition, alteration ordeletion by a vote of the General Body, provided that in the caseof Rules 1,2, 14(a). 17, 18,29,25, 34, 45. 46, 47, 48, 49(b), 50.51, 52, 53, 56 and 57(a) a majority of two-thirds of the memberspresent and voting is obtained.

Resolution No. 4 was taken up,

4) Resolved that the Bi-Centenary Celebrations of the Society be deferred till the legitimate demands of theemployees are fulfilled and minimum library services (books and periodicals) provided to the members ofthe Society are restored.

Proposed by : Y. H. KambleSeconded by : Rajiv Laud

4

Managing Committee's Comments ;The Managing Committee has decided to hold the Bicentenary Celebrations for augmenting its corpusand hence the Bicentenary celebration should be held as proposed.

Mr. Y.H. Kamble, who moved the resolution, said that the staff of the Society must get at least some portion ofthe remaining 2/3rd portion of the scales of the 5lh Pay that remained unimplemented till date.

Mrs. Feroza Seervai said thai the proposers of the resolution wanted better salaries for the staff but wereagainst Bicentenary fund raising events. She said that the Bicentenary provided an opportunity to raise fundsfor the Society. Mr. Sunil Kadam said that the celebrations could be deferred. Mr Yogesh Kamdar said thatwhat was said before him was bleeding heart populism. The Bicentenary Celebrations, he said, was not a"tamasha baji." These events were for raising funds for the Society. He said that the funds raised through theevents would be put into the Corpus after deducting the expenditure and income from it would be utilised forimproving the salary of the staff. He said the events had been planned with a view to put money into theCorpus and the idea behind it was only to raise the Corpus fund of the Society and, therefore, no stigma beattached to it. He further said that no donor gave money for the Corpus but for projects and, therefore, moneyhad to be raised through the Bicentenary Events.

Mr. Nagesh Havanurwas for collecting funds from the Governments. Mr. Prakash Reddy said the Societyhad to prioratise its expenses and add salary as another important item of expenses along with the books andperiodicals. He said that 20-30% of the expenses be kept aside from the donations received as administrativeexpenses since the staff of the Society were involved in carrying out those projects.

Mr. Sanjay Bhide said that both the parties, in favour and against the Bicentenary Celebrations of the Society,had good interest of the Society at heart. Advocate Arvind Waje pointed out that the resolution lacked clarityof thought and raising of funds for the Society should gain priority and only thereafter, the problems of theemployees could be tackled properly.

Dr. Kamala Ganesh said that the Society had not been able to raise funds for increasing the salary of the staffand the Bicentenary Celebrations provided a unique opportunity to raise funds for the Society. She said manypeople were striving to put together programmes to successfully create an image for the Society and planprogrammes. She said that stopping the Bicentenary Celebrations would amount to cut nose to spite face.Mr. T.J Ravishankar said the question was between celebrations and legitimacy. He said during the

10

celebrations funds would be created for the Corpus as well as for the projects. Mr Eknath Kshirsagarrequested the members to take a look at the balance sheet and pointed out that the only way to raise funds forthe Society was to use the occasion of the Bicentenary and reach out to the people of Mumbai and collectfunds for the Society.

Mr. Havanur and Mr. M.N. Chatterji spoke against holding the Bicentenary Celebrations on a lavish scale witha view to positively carry out programmes for raising funds to consider the legitimate demands of the employees.Dr. B.R. Rairikar said that the Bicentenary Celebrations should be purely notional.

Mr. K B Dabke, Hon. Finance Secretary, noted three points - one that the Bicentenary funds had been kept ina separate account Secondly, he said that when a donor indicates his wishes then it must be recognised andthe funds be utilised for the purpose it was indicated and some percentage from the donation would beearmarked for administrative expenses. The surplus generated from the Bicentenary functions would go tothe Corpus. Thirdly, the Bicentenary could not be postponed for this was the only occasion for collecting fundsfor the Society

The President, Mr. B.G. Deshmukh said that some monies would be spent for the inaugural function of theBicentenary Celebrations and some for other activities, while all other events planned for the BicentenaryCelebrations would be sponsored ones. He said that celebrations would be austere and befitting the dignity ofAsiatic Society. He said that the Management was hopeful of generating good surplus and the events wouldbe organised by professional event organisers. The year would be utilised to highlight Sociely's image andreputation

Mr. Eknath Kshirsagar pointed out that donations received during the Bicentenary could not all be utilised foradministration. However, it was possible to set aside a small percentage towards administrative expenditure.

The resolution was put to vote.

11 voted in favour of the resolution while 26 members voted against it. The resolution was not carried Accordingly,the Bi-Centenary Celebrations of the Society will take place.

Resolution Nos. 5(a) and 5(b) were taken up together.

5 a) Addition to clause 14(b), page 10, of the Rules and Regulations of the Society:Resolved that the following para be added to clause 14(b):

"No member of the Society shall hold the same office for more than two consecutive terms. Office in thiscontext means the office of the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Hon Secretary and the members ofthe Managing Committee co-opted or elected."


5 b) Resolved that the resolution above should come into effect immediately from the date it is adopted by thisGeneral Body Meeting.

Proposed by: B. R. RairikarSeconded by: Roza Deshpande

Managing Committee's Comments :

This resolution is not recommended as it takes away the right of the General Body5 b) This resolution does not survive

11

Dr. Rairikar, while proposing the resolution, said that the same people were continuing for a long time inpositions of power which amounted to concentration of power in the hands of few. Therefore, this resolutionwas an attempt to make way for new persons.

Mrs. Feroza Seervai suggested two amendments to the two resolutions:-

(i) For resolution No. 5(a), she said that instead of 'two terms' it shouid be 'three terms';(iij While in case of resolution No. 5(b), she said that resolution should come into effect after the nextelection.

Mr. Mangesh Kulkarni, who spoke next, said that the Asiatic Society was a voluntaryAssociation - a Trust. It was a learned body of educated persons and considering the geography, the Societywas at one end at the metropolis, it was difficult to find honorary persons to devote time and energy to administerand to carry out various activities of the Society. Therefore, it was not correct to impose any such restrictionson the number of terms that a person could hold in a certain capacity. Mr. Nagesh Havanur said that therewas power, prestige and influence that was attached to the position. He supported Mrs. Feroza Seervai withamendment for three terms and effective prospectively.

•

With this amendment, the resolution was put to vote. 22 voted in favour of the resolution while 11 votedagainst it. The resolution was adopted with an amendment i.e. instead of 'two consecutive terms' it was made'three consecutive terms.'

Thus, the amended Rule14(b) would read as follows:-

14(b) No withdrawal of nomination shall be permitted within 24 hours of thetime fixed for holding the Annual General Body Meeting at which elec-tions are to be held.

The Managing Committee will frame election programme and publish iton the notice board and circulate the same along with notice of themeeting of the General Body. The Managing Committee will appoint amember of the Society of at least five year's standing as ReturningOfficer who shall not be a member of the Managing Committee andwho is not a contesting candidate. The Returning officer will be fully incharge of the conduct of elections and his/her decision shall be finaland binding on all.

-

"No member of the Society shali hold the same office for morethan three consecutive terms. Office in this context means theoffice of the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Hon. Secretary andthe members of the Managing Committee co-opted or elected."

This will be effective prospectively from the elections to be held inAugust, 2004 onwards.

As it was late hour seeking general consent of the House, the President adjourned the meeting on 20thSeptember, 2003, at 3.30 p.m. to transact the uncompleted agenda.

The meeting ended with a vote of thanks to the Chair. However, the counting of ballot papers continued tilf10.30 p.m. Thereafter, the Returning Officer, Mr.Kartik Aiyar, declared the results of the elections for the postof Scrutinizing Committee as well as that of the Committee of Management including office bearers.

12

He declared that for seven members on the Scrutinizing Committee, the following nine candidates had filedvalid nomination forms :

•

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.Mr.

Veerkumar S. DoshiR.S. GopalanShankar N. KambieVithal S. KiratkudveP.P. RamachandranSubhas S. RegeRichard G. RemediosRam Kaluji SalviAshok Kumar V.

The following seven members were duty elected for the post of Scrutinizing Committee for the year 2003-2004

Mr. R.S. GopalanMr. Veerkumar S. DoshiMr. P.P. RamachandranMr. Richard G. RemediosMr Shankar N. KambieMr. Subhas S. RegeMr. Ashok Kumar V.

For five posts of Members of the Committee of Management, the following ten candidates had filed validnomination forms :

1) Mrs. Usha Banerji2} Mr. Shashikant Parshuram Deodhar3) Mrs. Roza Vidyadhar Deshpande4) Dr. Kamala Ganesh5) Mr. Yogesh Vadilal Kamdar6) Dr. Mangesh D. Kulkarni7) Mr. Rajiv Diwakar Laud8) Mr. Shashikant Pandurang Padgaonkar9} Mr. Shafi Maqbal Shaikh10) Dr. Vidya Vencatesan

The following five candidates were declared elected as Members of the Committee of Management for threeyears (2003-2006) :

Dr. Kamala GaneshMrs. Usha BanerjiMr. Yogesh Vadilal KamdarDr. Mangesh D. KulkarniDr Vidya Vencatesan

For four posts of Vice-Presidents, the following eight candidates had filed valid nomination forms :

1) Mr. Kisan Kashiram Chaudhary2) Dr. Devangana Jayant Desai3) Mr. Udhavdas Govardhandas Devi4) Mr. Rajan Motiram Jayakar5) Mr. Yadavrao Hirappa Kambie6) Dr. Mani Padmakar Kamerkar7) Mr. Madhusudan Ramchandra Kolhatkar8) Mr. Eknath Atmaram Kshirsagar

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The following 4 candidates were declared elected for two years (2003-2005) :

Dr. Devangana Jayant DesaiDr. Mani Padmakar KamerkarMr. Rajan Motiram JayakarMr Eknath Atmaram Kshirsagar

He then said that for the one post of President, the following two candidates had filed valid nominalion forms:-

1) Mr. Balchandra Gopal Deshmukh; &

2) Mr. Balkrishna Rangnath Rairikar.

Mr. Bhalchandra Gopal Deshmukh was declared elected for the post of President for two years (2003-2005)

For the one post of Hon. Secretary, the following two candidates had filed valid nomination forms:-

1) Dr. Gita Kasturi2) Mrs. Vimal Natwarlal ShahMrs. Vimal Natwarlal Shah was declared elected for two years (2003-2005).


14


MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED ANNUAL GENERAL BODY MEETINGHELD ON SATURDAY, 20TH SEPTEMBER, 2003.

The adjourned Annual General Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai (ASM) was held on Saturday, 20thSeptember, 2003, at 5.00 p.m. in the Durbar Hall of the Society. Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, President, presided overthe meeting.

The following members were present

Mr Yogi Aggarwal, Mrs. Usha Banerji, Ms. Medha A. Bhadkamkar, Mr. Kisan Kashiram Chaudhari, Mr. K.B.Dabke, Ms. Soonu J Dhunjisha, Mr Rajan Jayakar, Dr. N.N. Joshi, Mr. Yogesh Kamdar, Ms: Meher Kelawala,Mr. M. R Kolhatkar, Ms. T. Kondkar, Mr. Eknath A. Kshirsagar, Mrs. Meenal Kshirsagar, Mr. Ravindra DattatrayLad, Mr. Hirji Mistry, Mr. Milind M. Pandit, Dr. N.B. Patil, Mr. B.R. Rairikar, Dr. Mridula Ramanna, Mr. M.B.Ratnannavar. Mr. Prakash Recldy, Mr. S. S. Rege, Mr Shreenivas D. Sathe, Mrs, Vimal Shah, Ms. S.Shashidharan, Mr. B.V Shetti. Mr. Dinesh Solonki. Mr. A V. Sonawale and Mr. KasMinath Tari.

The Hon. Secretary welcomed all the members to the adjourned General Body meeting. The President,Mr. B.G. Deshmukh, took over the proceedings of the meeting.

Thereafter, resolution No. 6 was taken up for discussion.

6) Resolved that the clause 17 be amended as under:

"The property and funds of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai shall be vested in the Trust. Not more thansix Trustees shall be invited by the Annual General Body Meeting unanimously on the unanimousrecommendations of the Managing Committee to hold office for a period of six years. One-third of theTrustees will retire every two years. These vacancies will be replaced by two Trustees unanimouslyinvited by the Annual General Body Meeting on the unanimous recommendations of the ManagingCommittee."

"It is further resolved that in addition to the above, one nominee each both of the State of Maharashtraand Central Government be the ex-officio members of the Board of Trustees. They would be recommendedto be the members of the Board of Trustees by the respective Governments. Their tenure would bedetermined by the respective Governments. They shall have all the rights and privileges of the otherTrustees designated to be so unanimously by the Annual General Body and unanimously recommendedby the Managing Committee. Furthermore, all their expenses incidental to the Trusteeship of the Societyshall be borne by the respective concerned Governments."



Managing Committee does not recommend as there is no request from the two governments.

While proposing the resolution Dr. B.R. Rairikar said that the existing procedure of selecting a Trustee wasfaulty. He said the Trustees had neither made any efforts to collect funds or made any intellectual contribu-tions nor were they persons of distinction. He said that the Managing Committee had abducted the rights ofthe General Body. He further said that many of the Trustees were connected with political trusts and withdubious educational institutions. He said that a proper format for election of Trustees be prepared and full bio-dataof the proposed Trustees be circulated and such a nomination be invited by the Managing Committee. He

15

also suggested that a nominee each of the State and the Central Governments be ex-officio members on theBoard of Trustees.

Mr. Yogesh Kamdar said that it was not proper on the part of Dr. B.R. Rairikar to mention about political colourwhen he himself appointed to be the Presidential candidate in the panel in which Mrs. Roza Deshpande wasthe Vice-Presidential candidate.

There was no further discussion and the resolution No. 6 was put to vote

7 voted in favour of (he resolution and 15 voted against the resolution. The resolution was not carried.

Thereafter, Resolution Nos. 7 and 8 were taken up together.

7) Addition to Rule 14(a), page 10, after para two :

Resolved that in addition to the above, the representative of the Central and State Government, one eachshall be the ex-officio members of the Managing Committee designated to be so by the concernedGovernments. Their tenure may be determined by the respective Governments. They shall have thesame rights and privileges as the other members of the Managing Committee. All expenses arising outof their functions as Ihe ex-officio member of the Managing Committee of the Society shall be borne bythe respective Governments.


8) Add as para 3 the following in 14(b) after para 2 :

"In addition to the above members of the Managing Committee vide 14(a) there will be a representative ofthe employees on the Managing Committee duly elected by them i.e. by the employees. He will have allthe rights and privileges of other Managing Committee members and his term will be for two years.

Explanation: This is just as per the resolution of the General Body adopted in its meeting held on 19thAugust, 2000. In spite of the fact that the General Body has directed the Managing Committee to incorporatethe above amendment (which was passed by more than 2/3rd of the majority of members present) videits Resolution No. 9 passed in the meeting of the General Body held on 24th August, 2002, the contentionof the majority of the Managing Committee that the inclusion of the staff nominee in the Committee lastyear was 'pending the constitutional amendment' in this regard is incorrect and misleading.

Proposed by : B. R. Rairikar •Seconded by : Haridas K.

Managing Committee's Comments :Managing Committee's Resolution No. 2 has taken care of it.

The President announced that the Managing Committee's resolution in this regard had already beenunanimously adopted and, therefore, both these resolutions did not survive.

9) Amendment to clause 22, page 14, add after other bodies."

"The Chairman and the Convenor of the Sub-Committees shall be elected by the respective Commit-tees.' It was further resolved that in the event of a difference of opinion between the committee and theManaging Committee on issues pertaining to the specific matters assigned to the Sub-Committees, thefinal decision shall be taken in the joint meeting of the Sub-Committee and the Managing Committee andthe Managing Committee shall not take any decision unilaterally."

Proposed by : B. R. RairikarSeconded by: Roza Deshpande

16

Managing Committee's Comments :Managing Committee seeks to amend Rule 22.Add after respective Committees, "except where Vice President is a member, he/she is ex-officioChairperson of that sub-committee."Comments ; The subject dealt with by the sub-committee in their report has to be considered by theManaging Committee before taking any decision. Thus, not recommended.

Dr. B.R. Rairikar proposed the resolution. The Hon. Secretary pointed out that the Managing Committeesought to amend Rule 22 of the Constitution by adding after respective Committees, "except where VicePresident is a member, he / she is ex-officio Chairperson of that sub-committee."

The resolution No. 9 as amended Rule 22 was unanimously carried.

Thus, the amended Rule 22 would read as follows :-

22. The Managing Committee shall have power to appoint sub-committees for dealing with specific matters referred to themand to elect delegates to conferences or other similargatherings, as well as representatives on other bodies. Thechairman and the Convenor of the Sub-Committees shallbe elected by the respective Committees except where thevice-President is a member, he/she is ex-officio Chairper-son of that Committee. In the event of difference of opinionbetween the Committee and the Managing Committee onissues pertaining to the specific matters assigned tothe Sub-Committees, the final decision shall be taken inthe joint meeting of the Sub-Committee and the ManagingCommittee and the Managing Committee shall not take anydecision unilaterally.


10) Resolved that the following be added to Rule No. 44:

"While taking temporary or any other loans from the banks or any other financial institutions, it shall bemandatory for the Managing Committee to convene a Special General Body Meeting and get theapproval of 3/4th of the members present for the said loans."

Proposed by : Haridas K.Seconded by : Rajiv Laud


7/ie Managing Committee does not recommend this resolution as this is the prerogative of the Trusteessince property and funds of the Society are vested in them.

The proposer and seconder of the resolution were not present to propose and second the resolution. ThePresident, Mr. Deshmukh, therefore, announced that the said resolution did not survive. Dr. B.R. Rairikarsought to move the resolution on their behalf. The President said that Dr. Rairikar should have had theauthority from the movers of the resolution to move the resolution on their behalf.

Therefore, the resolution No. 10 did not survive.

Resolution Nos. 11,12 and 13 were taken together.

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11} Resolved that the original aims and objectives of the Society be restored and that the revised aims andobjectives of the Society be treated as being supplementary aims and objectives added in 1995.

Explanation: The aims and objectives of any organization are sacrosanct. They are not to be tamperedwith. The intention is not to rescind the newly added aims and objectives which are legally incorporated.For example, in ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) established in 1929, the original aims andobjectives are still retained, added aims and objectives are treated as supplementary.


Managing Committee's Comments :When new rules and regulations were made, all of them were discussed and considered in the context ofthe new dynamics

12) "Resolved that the correspondence between the Asiatic Society of Mumbai and the Government ofMaharashtra regarding financial assistance of Rs.20 lacs be placed before this meeting of the AnnualGeneral Body and be discussed-"

Explanation: The said assistance of the State Government has not materialized. In order that themembers may know the present status of the matter, the said correspondence should be placed beforethis meeting of the Annual General Body.


Managing Committee's Comments :The latest letter addressed to the State Minister of Education has been put up on the Notice Board- Thedetails are also given in the Annual Report.

13) "Resolved that the progress made in the efforts to request the Government of India to extend its 1984Asiatic Society (Calcutta) Act to the Asiatic Society of Mumbai and to declare it as an Institution of NationalImportance on the line of Asiatic Society, Kolkata, in the Bi-Centenary Year 2003-2004 be placed beforethis meeting of the Annual General Body and be discussed."

Explanation: This resolution has reference to Resolution No 30 of the Annual General Meeting in 2002.The Managing Committee has assured to examine the resolution and take it up with the appropriate body.The details of the same are being requested for.


Managing Committee's Comments :This is explained in the Annual Report,

As the movers of the resolutions were not present, the resolutions did not survive.

14) The meeting of the General Body of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai resolves to direct the ManagingCommittee to implement forthwith the resolutions reproduced below, passed in the Annual General Meetingof the Society held on 5 t h October, 2002.

Proposed by : A. V. SonawaleSeconded by : Rajiv Laud

RESOLUTION:

"Resolved that the employees of the Society be covered under the following schemes on the line ofGovernment employees:

a) Pension schemeb) Group Insurance Schemec) Reimbursement of Medical Expenses Schemed) Family Pension Scheme &e) Housing Loan Scheme."

Proposed By : K. K. ChaudhariSeconded By : Y. H. Kambte


Staff Welfare Scheme would be implemented subject to availability of funds.

While moving the resolution, Mr. K.K. Chaudhari said that to raise funds for implementing welfare schemes forthe staff. He said that the Bicentenary was a good occasion to raise funds. He said at least Item No. (c) i.e.'Reimbursement of Medical Expenses Scheme' be accepted to the extent of Rs.500/- per year per employeebe taken up. Dr. Rairikar recommended that Item No. (d) i.e. 'Family Pension Scheme' be also accepted andhe recommended that Rs.500/- per month be paid as pension to the wife of the deceased employee on thebasis of merit.

Mr Deshmukh said that the Managing Committee was sympathetic to the problems of the staff and fundspermitting such schemes would be implemented by the Management. Regarding the Group Insurance Scheme,the President said that the minimum staff requirement for starting such a scheme was 50. At this stage, Mr.K.B. Dabke, Hon Finance Secretary, said the Society had the staff of only 31 and, therefore, the ManagingCommittee decided to include the spouse of the staff and the staff was asked to give information about theirspouses which the Management did not receive. The staff members had been misguided regarding thescheme and, therefore, did not cooperate in this matter.

Mr. Prakash Reddy complained that the Staff Welfare Committee consisting of members of the Managementand staff had not met for a long time even though it had been decided that there would be a monthly meetingof this Committee. He said that priority be given to settle the issues of the employees.

Mr. Yogesh Kamdar said that assurance is misguiding because it depends on the income and then if thepromises are not fulfilled, there would be problems again. He, therefore, said that it was a wrong practice togive promises and to bring such resolutions as funds were required to implement them. He said that commit-ments can be made and rectified if funds were available in the bank. Moreover, he strongly pointed out thathow the present Managing Committee could bind all the future Managing Committees to fulfil the resolutionswhich had a bearing on finance. He reiterated that if there was adequate finance, the resolution could beimplemented.

Mr. Rajan Jayakar, Vice President and Chairman of the Bicentenary Events Committee, said that moneywould be raised through holding events and the funds would be added to the Corpus. He requested themembers not to place the cart before the horse as the Bicentenary events were being planned to raise fundsfor the Society. He said that at this stage it was important for the members to project the good image of theSociety by being one and work in harmony to celebrate the Bicentenary. He said the atmosphere would not beconducive to raise money if wrong signals went out to the public of Mumbai. He, therefore, requested every-one to cooperate and work in an atmosphere of peace and harmony to make the best of the Bicentenaryevents and thereby raise funds for the Society.

19

Mr. Prakash Reddy reminded of the resolution passed by the AGM about implementing 5lh Pay Commission'sRecommendations and other welfare schemes. The President then read out the following resolution No. 4(2)that had been adopted by the AGM held in August, 2002 (on page 10 of the AGM minutes) ;J

"Resolved that resolutions from members having bearing on finance, though, discussed andaccepted by majority would be construed as recommendatory in nature and implementedpartly / fully depending on the availability of funds under that particular head of account."

He, however, said that if funds permit staff welfare schemes would be implemented.

Dr. Rairikar suggested an amendment to the resolution. He said that only Item Nos. (c) Reimbursement ofMedical Expenses Scheme; and <d) Family Pension Scheme - be accepted. Mr. Reddy took strong objectionto the amendments suggested by Dr. Rairikar and he sought full implementation of the Resolution.

When Dr. Rairikar's amendment, to accept only Item Nos. (c) and (d) i.e. Reimbursement of MedicalExpenses Scheme and Family Pension Scheme, was put to vote, 11 voted in favour of the amendment, 17voted against and one member abstained from voting.

Thereafter, the original resolution was put to vote, 4 voted in favour and majority voted against it, the resolutionwas not passed.


15) "Resolved that the details of loss incurred to the Staff Provident Fund Account on account of improperinvestment of amount, less deduction of rate of contribution, etc. be placed before this meeting of theAnnual General Body."

•

Proposed by : A. V. SonawaleSeconded by : Rajiv Laud


The Managing Committee does not recommend this resolution. There is no rule which specifiescompensation for alleged losses. However, some ex-gratia payment would be considered by theManaging Committee.

The Hon. Secretary pointed out that this was not actually a resolution but information had been sought fromthe movers of the resolution.

.Dr. Rairikar said that the resolution was in the form of a directive and at a meeting of the Board of Trustees inthe past, the Trustees had promised to compensate the loss incurred by the staff. He said that the question ofcompensation had to be sympathetically considered and be paid to the extent possible to the staff.

Mr. Yogesh Kamdar said that the Staff Provident Fund Trust and Asiatic Society Trust were two differententities and one Trust could not pass on the responsibility to the other Trust. This he said was trespassing. Hesaid that the employees had their own Trustees on the Provident Fund Trust and since it was not technicallypossible to compensate losses from one Trust to the other Trust, the only way out was to take the matter to thepolice and the Charity Commissioner. This he said was not surely the matter of the Asiatic Society. Mr.Prakash Reddy said that it was a long pending issue and the employees had incurred losses and the Manage-ment had agreed to pay. He said it was a simple calculation to work out the difference between the interestpaid by the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme and the one paid by the State Bank of India and the GeneralBody had a right to information and so he said to place before the General Body this information. He saidthere was simmering discontent on account of this and had to be settled

20

Mr. Yogesh Kamdar said that ideological considerations could not override or substitute legal provisions. Hesaid there were other remedies available. Either the aggrieved party could go to the police or to the CharityCommissioner. The President said the Provident Fund Act did not apply to the Provident Fund of the Staff ofthe Asiatic Society. It was only the Management under him had decided to cover the staff under the ProvidentFund Act. He specifically pointed out that what the Government paid was not binding on the Asiatic Management.However, he said that the Management was looking at this issue from humanitarian angle and whateverpayment would be considered that would be ex-gratia and not compensation. He said legally it was not a lossand how much ex-gratia would be paid would be decided later. However, he made it clear that the Managementwould have to approach the Charity Commissioner to pay the ex-gratia amount.

The President then said that the information sought by the movers of the resolution had been given and therewas no resolution to vote. The movers of the resolution were satisfied with the answer and withdrew theresolution

16) "Resolved that bound volumes of all journals and magazines that are 10 or more than 10 years old maybe made available to members for home-issue, and that each such bound volume may be treated as a'book' for issue purposes "

Explanatory Note:

a) Research Journals:

(i) Articles in research journals need to be read with care consideration and reflection. Thesearticles are often lengthy.

(ii) Often on taking a journal fora specific article, one finds several other articles that are of interest.(iii) Special issues of journals have a collection of articles on a single subject/theme.

Members who reside and work at long distances from the Library, find it not just very inconvenientbut absolutely impossible to spend long hours for days an end in order to do the reading. Manyof us spend 1 % - 2 hours or even more commuting just one way. The ban on house-issue ofbound volumes of journals is depriving us unfairly of valuable reading material.

b) There are journals of general interest that one would enjoy reading in leisurely manner, sharing itwith family. Example, in my case (a reader specifically in humanities) are Marg, Nature, ScientificAmerican, Geographical, National Geographic and many more.

The mere fact of iny residence and work at a long distance from the Library, is being made todiscriminate against me and deprive me of facilities that are rightfully mine by virtue of mymembership.

On the Committee's argument that home-issues should be stopped because pages tend to beremoved and the journal becomes worthless, I respond as under-

There is no doubt that such an act is vandalism and theft is unbecoming of a respectable memberof an august body such as our Society The act deserves to be condemned and the person, ifcaught, needs to be dismissed. But banning home-issue is hardly the remedy for the undermentionedreasons -

(i) Volumes, on the binding of which, the Society spends its scares resources remain on the shelvesunused and unmoved.

Even a cursory survey in our Library wifl reveal that there are innumerable volumes that havestood on the shelves untouched and are now going to seed.

fii) Vandalism, though of noxious - a risk that every library suffer. Without condoning such acts, the

21

question I have is, does the solution lie in turning the library into a museum of decayingresource material?

It may also be noted that Ihe continuance of the ban could even cause members to lose interest in thelibrary

Proposed by : Dr.(Ms.) S. ShashidharanSeconded by : Mr. A. V. Sonawale


The Managing Committee does not recommend this Resolution as valuable material is lost if one volumeis lost. If a reader requires any bound volume, the same is available in the Library for perusal.

Dr. Mrs. Shashidharan, while moving the resolution, made a strong plea for issuing out the bound volumes ofperiodicals that were required for research. She said it was not possible to visit the Library very day and thatthe bound volumes remained unused by the members.

Mrs. Meenal Kshirsagar pointed out that in every library the rule was that the bound volumes be not issued.The Hon. Secretary explained that this was a major problem in every library and thai if unfortunately onebound volume was lost then all the issues bound in that volume were also lost by the Society as it wasimpossible to get back volumes of any periodicals. However, she assured the movers of the resolution thatshe would approach the Review Committee to see if the rule could be relaxed.

The resolution was then put to vote. 4 voted in favour of the resolution and the majority voted against it. Theresolution was not carried.


17) "Resolved that the report of the enquiry held by the Hon. Finance Secretary at the instance of the Hon.President into the irregular receipt and overcharging of periodical be placed before this meeting of theAnnual General Body (2003-2004) and that it be discussed."

Explanation: When the same resolution was moved before the last AGM (Resolution No.24), theManaging Committee said that the inquiry was not complete. It is expected that the same is completenow and the detailed report is being requested for.

Proposed by : Haridas K.Seconded by : Rajiv Laud


This is not a resolution but request for information which will be put up on the Notice Board.

As the movers of the resolution were not present, the resolution lapsed.

18) Resolved that the Medals and Fellowship Committee should have at least three experts on differentsubjects who are not members of the Society.

Explanation: For an impartial and objective evaluation of the topics before the Commiitee the presenceof experts who are non-members is desirable.


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The Managing Committee does not recommend this resolution. The society has enough talent andscholarship within the society.


19) Resolved that the Honorary President of the Society should not be the Chairman of the Committee thatexamines the question of Autonomy.

Explanation: In the last AGM of the Society, it was resolved that a Committee be appointed to look intothe question of autonomy. It is understood recently the Committee has been constituted though it has notstarted functioning. What is envisaged by this Committee is an external evaluation Therefore, the sameshould be headed by an eminent scholar who is not a member of the Society.



The Managing Committee decided to appoint the President as ex-officio Chairman who is elected by themembers with full confidence in him.


20) Amendment to clause 10

Delete all lines from "if there is no quorum then the meeting shall be adjourned. However, only twoadjournments for want then the meeting would stand terminated-"

The amended clause would be as under :

"At a General Body Meeting, Annual or Special, 25 shall be a quorum. In the absence of quorum, theChairperson may adjourn the meeting for 30 minutes and, thereafter, the meeting would continue totransact the business on the agenda even if there is no quorum."

Proposed by : B. R. RairikarSeconded by : Haridas K.


The Managing Committee does not recommend this resolution for in the event that this number is lessthan ten members, then to take any decision on behalf of the General Body is not proper.

Dr. B.R. Rairikar, who moved the resolution, and Mr. M.R. Kolhatkar, who seconded it, said that arbitrarynumber of 25 had been fixed for the quorum. He said that if 25 members were present then the resolutionscould be taken up for discussion. But if it was 24 they could not be taken up for discussion. He said that in theConstitution of 1967 of the Society, the quorum was formed not by 25 members but only 12 members. Thepresent arrangement deterred discussion on the resolutions that were important in nature. He said memberscame from long distance and sat for the meeting through for a particular resolution to be discussed and if therewas one less for the quorum it was not discussed. This he said amounted to antidemocratic functioning of theSociety. He said that at the time of the meeting there had to be a quorum of 25 and thereafter the meetingwould continue even if the number was less. He said that the issue of quorum had to be taken in a spirit of theearlier Constitution.

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Mr. Rajan Jayakar said that there was no sanctity even for 25. he said that in fact, 25 was not correct and itshould be more in view of the large membership of the Society He said the idea was that when an importantmatter came before the General Body for discussion then collective wisdom should be there for discussion.He said that there was a totai of 2,500 members of the Society and the quorum of 25 meant only one percentof this total and this did not allow collective wisdom to prevail. Thus, he said the resolution was not called for.Mr Yogesh Kamdar, who spoke next, said that nobie sentiments of democracy had been evoked and this selfcertified sentiment of democracy were only to rake up mischief. It also showed deliberate intension of creatingdisorganization. He said that quorum was necessary in the beginning and thereafter also. Dr. Rairikar saidthat this resolution was a clandestine move to stall the discussion.

The resolution was put to vote. 8 voted in favour while 13 voted against it, the resolution was not carried.

The meeting then terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chair.


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Documents

THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAIoldcscs.freecrow.com/html/Asiatictemp/021 Minutes of...THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF MUMBAI MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, 7TH