Constitution

BHAKTI DHAM WALES

 CONSTITUTION

(Adopted on the 25 March 2017)

1 Adoption of the Constitution

The charity and its property will be administered and managed in accordance with the provisions in this constitution.

2 The Name

The Charity’s name is ‘BHAKTI DHAM WALES’(or such other name as the Members may from time to time decide with the approval of the Charity Commissioners) and in this document it is called the ‘Charity’.

 3 The Objects of the Charity

  • To advance the Hindu faith and tradition for the benefit of the public in Wales.
  • To advance the education of the public in Indian art, culture and traditions.
  • To relieve poverty, distress and sickness among persons primarily but not exclusively members of the Indian community living in Wales.

4 Applications of the Income and Property

 The income and property of the Charity shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the Objects.

5 Dissolution

 Dissolution of the charity can only be implemented after approval of two thirds of the Members in the General Meeting of the charity. Any assets remaining after satisfaction of any proper debts and liabilities shall be given or transferred to such other charitable institution/s having similar objects.

6   Amendments

The Charity may amend any provision of this Constitution provided that:

(a) No amendment may be made that would have the effect of making the Charity cease to be a Charity at law;

(b) No amendment may be made to alter the Objects if the change would not be within the reasonable contemplation of the members of or donors to the Charity;

(c) Any resolution to amend objects of this constitution is passed by not less than two thirds of the members present and voting at a general meeting.

(d) Any resolution to amend other provisions of constitution should be passed by a simple majority of members present and voting at a general meeting.

(e) A copy of any resolution amending this constitution shall be sent to the Commission within twenty-one days of it being passed.

7 Memberships 

  1. The two categories are

 (A) Founding Members: These members have been involved in the foundation of ‘Bhakti Dham Wales’ from June 2008 until registration of the organisation as a ‘Charity’ in January 2011.

Founding members are also called ‘Founding Governors’, subject to payment of annual retention fee. For all practical purposes, ‘Founding Governors’ will be just called as ‘Governors’ in this document. 

All Governors will pay an annual ‘retention fee’ to remain as a Governor. If the retention fee is not paid, then that person will cease to remain as a Governor, but their name will remain as a Founder Member, as it is a historical fact.

All current Governors will form ‘Board of Governors’.

(Appendix 1: List of Founding Members)

(Appendix 2: List of current Governors)

 

 (B) Annual member: Annual membership is valid for one year after payment of annual subscription.

(Appendix 3: List of Annual Members)

2. Membership is open to any individual over the age of eighteen years, who has regard for the objects of the charity.

3. The ‘retention fee’ to remain as a Governor and the ‘subscription fee’ for Annual membership shall be determined by the BOG from time to time.

(Appendix 4: Retention fee of Governors & annual subscription of Annual members)

4. Ex-Governor can renew his or her status of being a Governor again after payment of unpaid fee for the whole period since default and subject to approval of BOG.

5. If the number of current Governors falls below 35 due to any reason, then an existing member can be inducted as a new Governor after careful discussion by the BOG. The person to be inducted as a Governor must be

(a) an annual member for at least three years continuously

(b) willing to pay a sum of donation, as decided by the BOG, to Bhakti Dham Wales

(Appendix 5: Joining fee to become a Governor).

(c) fulfilling any relevant criteria as laid down by the BOG at that time.

6. Period of membership will run from 1st January to 31st December of the year, therefore the membership fee will be due on 1st January of the year. A person to remain as a Governor or Annual Member, this fee must be paid within the first quarter of the year i.e. latest by 31st March.

7. A person becoming an Annual member any time of the year, only a pro-rata fee for the remaining months of the current year will be charged at the beginning of the membership and the normal annual membership fee will be charged from the 1st January of the following year.

8. Membership fee will be accepted only by a bank standing order for ease of administration. A person can cancel the bank standing order at any time, but will cease to remain as a member of the organisation straight away.

8) Termination and lapse of Membership

Membership is terminated if:

 (1) Any membership fee due from the member to the Charity is not paid in full by 31st March.

(2) The member is removed from membership by a resolution of the Executive Committee that it is in the best interests of the Charity.

9) Meetings

 9(a) Annual / Emergency General meetings

(1) An ‘Annual General Meeting’ (AGM) will be usually held on first Sunday after Saraswati Puja of the year.

(2) If AGM could not be held as above, no more than fifteen months may elapse between successive annual general meetings.

(3) All general meetings other than Annual General Meetings (AGM) shall be called Emergency General Meeting (EGM).

(4) The BOG may call an EGM at any time.

(5) The Executive Committee must call a Emergency General Meeting after approval of BOG, if requested to do so in writing by at least twenty members or twenty percent of the Members whichever is the higher. The request must state in writing the exact nature of the business or the resolution that is to be discussed.

9(b) BOG / Executive Committee meeting

  • BOG meeting will be held once every quarter on first Saturday of January, April, July and October unless changed to other day by the Executive Committee for a good reason and informed to all Governors in advance.

(2) The Secretary will call the meeting of the BOG after consulting the Chairperson.  The Chairperson will head the meeting of the BOG. The Executive Officers will decide the agenda of the BOG meetings. Other Governors can request the Secretary, at least one week in advance, to include an item to be included in the agenda of the forthcoming BOG meeting.

(3) Executive Committee will have its meeting at approximately every six-week interval or earlier if necessary. Executive Committee will seek guidance from and report to BOG at its quarterly meetings. Any major decision regarding future activities must be approved by the BOG, but the Executive Committee will be allowed to take a decision at its discretion on any urgent issue that arises prior to the next BOG scheduled meeting.

(4) The Executive Committee can call an emergency BOG meeting, if it is felt necessary to do so. Similarly, an emergency BOG meeting can be requested by a group of minimum five Governors (who are not a couple) by writing to the Secretary and mentioning the urgent issue of concern to be discussed. Any such meeting must be called within two weeks of receiving such request.

10 Notices 

(1) The minimum period of notice required to hold any general meeting of the Charity is twenty-one clear days from the date on which the notice is deemed to have been given.

(2) The Executive Committee Members should have at least seven clear days’ notice of the Executive Committee (EC) meeting.

(3) A member who does not register an address with the Charity or who registers only a postal address that is not within the United Kingdom shall not be entitled to receive any notice from the Charity.

11 Quorum

(1) No business shall be transacted at any general meeting unless a quorum is present.

(2) A quorum for an AGM / EGM / BOG is eighteen members entitled to vote upon the business to be conducted at the meeting; or fifty percent of the total membership at the time, whichever is the lesser. If a meeting cannot proceed due to lack of quorum, then another meeting will be called as soon as possible and if the second meeting cannot go ahead again due to lack of quorum, then an emergency meeting of BOG will be called to decide the next course of action which will include reducing the level of quorum for the next AGM / EGM.

 (3) Quorum for the Executive committee (EC) meeting will be at least fifty percent of Executive Committee members.

12 Chairperson

(1) General meetings shall be chaired by the person who has been appointed as Chairperson.

(2) If the Chairperson is not present with a valid reason the Secretary or the Treasurer shall chair the meeting.

(3) If no Executive Officer (Chairperson, Secretary or Treasurer) is present the meeting is postponed to another suitable date.

 13 Votes

(1) Each member shall have one vote but if there is an equality of votes, then the person who is chairing the meeting shall have a casting vote in addition to any other vote he or she may have.

(2) Those members who cannot be present physically at a meeting, with a valid reason, may vote by proxy or electronic method as decided by Executive Committee from time to time.

(3) Annual members will be eligible to vote at AGM after three years of continuous membership, but they will be eligible to propose any matter for consideration at AGM soon after becoming a member.

(14) Governing Structure of the Charity 

The Charity shall be managed by BOG through Executive Committee and Advisory Committee.   

(1) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (*):

Day to day affair of the organisation will be conducted by the ‘EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE’, which will comprise of:

  • Executive Officers (Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer):

Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer will be the key personnel of the Executive Committee and will form ‘Core Executive Committee’.

  • Co-ordinators of Sub-committees:

There will be at least four Sub-committees:  Puja, Cultural, Catering and Youth Sub-committee. Each Sub-committee will be led by a Co-ordinator. Additional sub-committees can be formed by the BOG as per requirement of the organisation.

* TRUSTEE

TRUSTEE means charity trustees. Charity trustees are the people who are responsible for the general management of the administration of the charity. Therefore, all members of the Executive Committee will be ‘TRUSTEE’ of Bhakti Dham Wales and their name will be passed on to the Charity Commission soon after formation of the new Executive Committee. This list will be renewed every two years during AGM. Though only names of Executive Committee members will be sent to Charity Commission as Trustee of Bhakti Dham Wales, but all Governors will be jointly responsible for any legal obligation concerning the organisation, if Executive Committee has acted in good faith after consultation with and agreement of BOG.

(2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

This committee will consist of three Governors who are not part of the Executive Committee.          

         (Appendix 6: Current Governing Structure of Bhakti Dham Wales)

(15) The Election of members of Governing structure

(A) Criteria of a candidate for a Committee:

 1. Only Governors are eligible to become a candidate for the Core Executive Committee (Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer) or a member of Advisory Committee.

 2.Usually, only Governors can be a candidate for the post of Coordinator of the Sub-committees, but in exceptional situation, a person who is not a Governor but an Annual Member for at least three years; can be elected for a Coordinator post, if BOG decides to do so and requests the member concerned to take up the responsibility.

 3.Only one person of a family can be part of the Core Executive Committee at any given time. Spouse of the Executive Officer can be allowed to become the Coordinator of the Sub-committee or a member of the Advisory Committee, if felt appropriate.

  1. A person can hold any post of the Executive Committee or Advisory Committee for a maximum of two terms in continuation, but will be allowed after a gap of two terms to hold another round of two terms for any post of the Executive Committee.

(B) The process of election of members of the Executive Committee & Advisory Committee:

The election of member of these two committees will be done at a meeting of BOG called especially for this purpose before AGM. The outgoing chairperson will chair this meeting, if s/he is not a candidate for any post; otherwise Governors will choose such a person amongst themselves who is independent i.e. not contesting for any post. This person will act as ‘Election Commissioner’. Names of the elected persons will be put forward for approval at the AGM and both new committees will take office when approved by the AGM.

 1.All Governors, by default, will be a candidate for any post of Executive Committee or Advisory Committee unless they withdraw their name at the beginning of the meeting for a particular post or all posts. Therefore, if a Governor does not wish his or her name to be considered for a post, then that name will be taken out from consideration for voting prior to the start of this process. All Governors will propose their preference for only one person (from the list of remaining Governors) for one post at a time by secret ballot. The person recommended by majority of Governors will be declared elected for that post. The same process will be repeated for other posts.

2.In exceptional situation, the same process of selecting an annual member, (who will not be attending the meeting of Governors for this purpose), for a Co-ordinator post will be followed by the BOG. The person selected will be requested by the Chairperson to take up the post of Coordinator of that sub-committee. If this person declines to take up the post, then the new BOG will decide how to fill up the vacancy.

3. Method to fill up any vacancy in the Executive or Advisory Committee would be by re-election for that vacant post as per clause 15(B).

(16)  Roles and Responsibilities of BOG, Executive Committee & Advisory   Committee

(A) Roles and Responsibilities of the BOG

The BOG is the supreme decision making authority of the organisation. It is responsibility of all Governors to actively participate in functions of Bhakti Dham Wales and enhance the image of the organisation in the society. All Governors should contribute in the future growth of the organisation.

(B) Roles and Responsibilities of Executive Committee 

Both Executive Officers and Subcommittee Co-ordinators will work as a team and take decisions collectively.

Following duties are only indicative and not exhaustive.

(1) EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

 CHAIRPERSON:

  • Will be responsible to conduct the meeting of the executive committee (EC).
  • Must liaise with other Executive Officers.
  • To call for an Executive committee meeting with the help of the Secretary.
  • Will be the first point of contact with the media regarding affairs of the Charity.

 SECRETARY:

  • Will deal with all administrative work and correspondence.
  • Responsible to maintain proper record of every matter concerning the Charity.
  • Call for the meeting of the Executive committee after consulting the Chairperson.
  • A proper minute of all meetings of the BOG and Executive Committee must be kept by the Secretary. Minutes should have the details of the proceedings at meetings including:
      • The names of the members present at the meeting;
      • The decisions made at the meetings; and
      • Where appropriate the reasons for the decisions.
  • Minutes must be approved as ‘accurate’ by the next meeting of the BOG / Executive Committee and minutes of all meetings should be made available to all Governors as soon as possible after the meeting via email.

TREASURER:

  • Will be responsible for maintaining the financial record of the Charity such as maintaining account etc.
  • Will liaise with the accountant for the preparation of the annual account of the charity and present the annual account to members at the time of AGM of the Charity.
  • Will present up-to-date financial report to the Executive Committee on a regular basis during the meetings and answer any query relating to finance raised by the members.
  • Will maintain up-to-date register of members of the Charity and will remind members re renewal of their membership if it is due and report to BOG about this.
  • Will actively take part in fund-raising activities of the organisation.

CO-ORDINATORS OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES

  • Will represent their Sub committees in the meetings of Executive Committee & BOG.
  •  Will lead the sub committees
  • Will liaise closely with Executive Officers.
  • Will be responsible for the working of the subcommittee & encourage a group of interested members and non-members to help them in their respective areas .
  • Will communicate effectively with the Members.

(C) Roles and Responsibilities of Advisory Committee

          Roles & responsibilities of members of this committee is

  • to advise the Executive Committee proactively about any issue of importance which subsequently can be discussed in the BOG meeting.
  • to resolve any differences amongst members, related to the functioning of Bhakti Dham Wales, at an early stage impartially and amicably.

(17) Disqualifications and Removal of Executive Committee members

A Governor or an Executive Committee Member who is not a Governor shall cease to hold office if he or she:

(1) is disqualified from acting as a Governor or an Executive Committee Member by virtue of section 72 of the Charities Act 1993 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision);

(2) ceases to be a member of the Charity;

(3) becomes incapable due to health, illness or injury of managing and administering his or her own affairs;

(4) resigns as an Executive Committee member by notice to the Charity (but only if at least two Executive Officers will remain in office when the notice of resignation is to take effect); or

(5) is absent without informing the Secretary from all Executive Committee meetings held within a period of six consecutive months and the BOG resolves that his or her office be vacated.

(18) Annual Report and Return of Accounts

 The Executive Officers must comply with their obligations under the Charities Act 1993 with regard to:

(a) The keeping of accounting records for the Charity;

(b) The preparation of annual statements of account for the Charity;

(c) The transmission of the statements of account to the Charity;

(d) The preparation of an annual report and its transmission to the Charity Commission;

(19) Registered particulars

The Executive Officers must notify the Charity Commission promptly of any changes to the Charity’s entry on the Central Register of Charities.

(20)  Insurance

The Executive Committee must insure the organisation suitably in respect of public liability and any other relevant liability. The Executive Committee will keep BOG informed about this.

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31st May 2020

 Appendix 1

 List of ‘Founding Members’ of Bhakti Dham Wales

Dr. Nishebita Das

Dr. (Late) Pran Ballabh Das

Dr. Jogeshwar Das-Mohapatra

Mrs. Suchitra Das-Mohapatra

Mrs. Radhika Kadaba

Mr. Kadaba Raj Kumar

Dr. Kishor Kale

Dr. Manisha Kale

Mr. Gopal Kulkarni

Mrs. Surekha Kulkarni

Mr. Santosh Kumar

Dr. Upendra Kumar

Mr. Vivek Kumar

Dr. Jashbir Mahapatra

Mr. Rabindra Mahapatra

Mr. Abhijit Mitra

Mrs. Amita Mitra

Mr. Khitish Mohanty

Dr. Vijya Laxmi Mohanty

Mr. Narsimha Rao Mujumdar

Mrs. Shobha Mujumdar

Dr. Rawindaran Nair

Dr. Sheladevi Nair

Dr. Kamlesh Ojha

Dr. Sushma Ojha

Mr. Aji Raghuram

Mrs. Mala Raghuram

Mrs. Chitra Rani

Mr. Nagraj Rao

Late (Mrs). Nagu Rao

Dr. Meenakshi Sarnobat

Dr. Sudhir Sarnobat

Mr. Ajay Sharma

Mrs. Anuradha Sharma

Dr. Alokmoy Sinha

Mrs. Anita Sinha

Dr. Arun Sinha

Mrs. Chetna Sinha

Dr. Ila Sinha

Mrs. Raj Lakshmi Sinha

Mrs. Renu Sinha

Mr. Sudhir Sinha

Dr. Anvita Swarnkar

Mr. Keshav Swarnkar

Mrs.Urmila Talwalkar

Mrs. Mamta Tewary

Dr. Rajesh Tewary

Mr. Rogeiro Verma

Mrs. Shefalini Verma

Total 49 ‘Founding Members’ (as per information available at hand).

 Appendix 2

List of Annual Members

There is no ‘Annual Member’ at present.

 Appendix 3

Retention fee of Governors: 

£50 per year per person

 Subscription for Annual membership: £50 per year per person

Subscription for new Annual membership mid-way during the year:  £5 per month for the remaining months of the joining year        

Appendix 4 

Joining fee to become a Governor:               £500 

Appendix 5 

Current Governing Structure of Bhakti Dham Wales 

Refer To Our Executive Committee Page