Constitution of Dogri Sanstha

Article 1.

(a) The organisation shall be called ‘Dogri Sanstha.’
(b) The organisation shall be secular and non-political.
(c) Fundamentally, it shall be the organisation of the Dogri-Pahari writers, artists, researchers and thinkers. Its membership shall not be open to all.

Article 2. Headquaters and Sub-offices

The Headquarters of the Sanstha Academy shall be situated at Karn Nagar, Jammu. Provided that the Sanstha shall be free to establish its ‘sub offices’ in the Province of Jammu or in any other part of the country, in accordance with the prevalent circumstances.

Article 3: Aims and objectives of the Sanstha

  1. To conserve the democratic traditions of the Dogra-Pahari people and to strive for their intellectual development.
  2. To strive for the development of Dogri-Pahari languages as also of the related dialects.
  3. To strive, with all the means available, for the intellectual development of Dogri literature.
  4. To assist, to the extent possible, in research on the Dogri language and culture.
  5. To strive for the conservation and promotion of the renowned Dogra-Pahari painting.
  6. To protect and promote the tradition of Dogri-Pahari folk music.
  7. To conduct a scientific investigation into the folklore and folk art and to strive to collect and publish the scattered folklore and folk-art.
  8. To explore the unwritten folk-history of Dogra-Pahari and to have it written and published anew.
  9. To draw attention of the State and the Union Governments to the need of preservation and maintenance of the historically important monuments located in the Dogra-Pahari region.
  10. To celebrate the social, cultural and ethnic festivals of the Dogra-Pahari region.
  11. To liaise and collaborate with other organisations in consideration of the commonality of the objectives of the Sanstha.
  12. To organise coaching of the candidates appearing for examination of the Dogri subject.
  13. To establish a Trust for the adequate care and maintenance of the real estate of the Sanstha so as to carry out the activities in fulfilment of the Sanstha’s objectives.
  14. To honour, from time to time, the writers, artistes and scholars who significantly contribute creatively to the furtherance of the objectives of the Sanstha.
  15. To sponsor, from time to time, competitions of lectures, musical concerts and drama; and to organise exhibitions relating to art in the Dogra-Pahari region.
  16. To grant scholarships to and cooperate, by way of awards, with the new and emerging talents of literature, art and culture, for their advancement in the respective fields.
  17. To provide financial support, subject to the financial capability of the Sanstha, to the needy Dogra authors and artistes.

Article 4: Membership of the Sanstha

(a) Persons with the qualifications mentioned below shall be eligible for the membership of the Sanstha:

  1. Authors of the languages/dialects connected with Dogri.
  2. Artistes, painters, singers, sculptors, dancers and actors et cetera of the Dogra-Pahari region.
  3. Scholars and historians engaged in research work on the literature and life-style of the Dogra-Pahadi region.
  4. Founding members of the Dogri Sanstha and the former Presidents of the Sanstha shall hold life-long membership of the Dogri Sanstha.
  5. Honorary membership of the Sanstha may be conferred on the renowned writers, artists and visiting dignitaries.
    Honorary membership for life may also be accorded to any person who donates a lump-sum of Rs 10,000/- or more to the Sanstha, and to the persons who display active
    sympathy for the furtherance of the Sanstha’s objectives. Honorary membership shall be accorded by the Executive Committee of the Sanstha.

(b)

  1. Scholars and journalists et cetera showing active sympathy and support to the Santha may be made the Associate Members of the Sanstha.
  2. The Associate Members shall have the same privilege as are available to other Members of the Sanstha.
    Note: The Honorary Members and the Associate Members may participate in the meetings of the Sanstha, provided that they shall not have the right to vote in the conferences of the General Body.

(c) The membership of the Sanstha shall be of the duration of three years. The election of the officials of the Sanstha shall also be held every three years. Only those members shall be eligible to vote in any new elections that have renewed their membership. If, for any special reasons, the elections of the Sanstha are held after a period longer than three years, the existing membership shall continue to be valid till its renewal.

(d) Persons holding official position in any political party shall not be eligible to hold any office in the Sanstha. Such persons may, however, be accorded ordinary membership of the Sanstha in accordance with sub-article 5(b) of article 4 above.

(e) Only the Executive Committee of the Sanstha shall have the power to grant membership of the Sanstha.

(f) The Executive Committee of the Sanstha shall have the power to annul the membership of the persons who are found to be acting in contravention of the interests and bye-laws of the Sanstha.

Article 5: The General Body (Conference of the Members) of the Sanstha

  1. The General Body of the Sanstha shall comprise of the total number of the members.
  2. The General Body shall generally exist for a period of three years, i.e. between one tri-annual elections of the Sanstha’s officials to the next one.
  3. The General Body shall have the authority to add or amend the Constitution of the Sanstha.
  4. A no-confidence motion against any office-bearing member of the Sanstha shall be placed only before the General Body for consideration. A decision on such a motion shall be taken in accordance with the majority vote cast in a Conference of the General Body.
  5. The quorum for a meeting of the General Body called for deliberations on the organisational matters of the Sanstha shall be one-third of the total members of the Santha. In case the quorum is not formed in such a meeting called for the first time, there shall be no binding of the quorum in the meeting that is called a second time.
  6. The General Body shall meet at least once a year.

Article 6: Officers of the Sanstha

The General Body of the Sanstha shall, in its first conference, hold elections for the following officers, on simple majority, for a period of three years:
1. President,
2,3 and 4. Three Vice-Presidents,
5. General Secretary,
6. Secretary,
7. Treasurer,
8. Secretary, Literature and
9. Secretary, Publicity

Article 7: Tri-annual Elections

  1. Generally, the elections of the office-bearing members of the Sanstha shall be held every three years. Provided that in certain special conditions, the Executive Committee or the General Body may extend the duration not exceeding six months or a year, respectively. The elections shall be held within a period of two months of the ending of a financial year.
  2. Approval of General Body for the extended duration under special circumstances shall be obtained at its conference called for the election.
  3. For conduct of elections, action on enlistment of new members shall be taken till 15 days preceding the date of election. The old members shall be eligible to renew their membership till 10 days preceding the election.
  4. Members shall be informed in writing about the election, ten days in advance.
  5. Generally, election shall be conducted by raised hands. Provided that election by secret ballot may be conducted if the members in simple majority ask for it.
  6. The quorum for election shall be formed of the one third of the total number of members.
  7. In case the quorum for election is not formed in the first meeting, there shall be no requirement to form a quorum in the second meeting called for the purpose.
  8. Only such members shall be eligible to stand for any office of the Sanstha as have been its members for the preceding two sessions. Save for the office-bearers of the Dogri Bhavan Trust, no office-bearers of any Non-Governmental Organisation engaged in work on Dogri literature shall be eligible to stand for election to any office of the Dogri Sanstha.

Article 8: The Executive Committee

  1. The Executive shall comprise of a total of 15 to 21 members.
  2. Save for the 9 elected office-bearers, other members shall be nominated by consensus of the elected office-bearers.
  3. The Executive Committee, including the members other than office-bearers, shall be constituted within 15 days of the election.
  4. An Executive Committee shall remain in office till the time the next Executive is elected to office.
  5. The Executive Committee shall mandatorily hold at least one meeting every three months. The meeting shall be called by the General Secretary in consultation with the President.
  6. To ensure smooth functioning of the Sanstha, the Executive Committee shall constitute different committees as per the requirement. These committees shall function under the supervision of the Convenor. In case, the Convenor is not a member of the Executive, he or she shall be nominated as a co-opted member of the Executive.
  7. For the purpose of the meetings of the Executive Committee, one-third of the total number of its members shall form the quorum.
  8. The responsibility for planning and executing literary and cultural activities of the Sanstha shall vest with the Executive Committee. The Executive Commiitee shall also deliberate upon the organisational matters of the Santha.
  9. All the decisions of the Executive Committee shall be taken on the basis of a simple majority vote.
  10. In case one-third or more of the total number of members pass in writing a motion of no confidence against any office-bearer or other member of the Executive Committee, the said motion shall be placed before the General Body at a meeting specially called for the purpose within a month. In case such a meeting is not called within a month, then the members placing the motion shall have the right to make the allegation.
  11. The Executive Committee of the Sanstha shall nominate two of its members for the Dogri Bhavan Trust. (The Trust has made a provision for that). The nomination to the Board shall be valid till the next election.
  12. In case any office-bearer is unable to participate in the meetings for any reason, or if he/she has to remain absent for a certain period, the Executive shall have the authority to nominate another person in his/her place.
  13. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to expel any nominated member. The power shall be exercised by a simple majority of two-thirds of the total strength of the Executive.

Article 9: Office-bearers and their powers

  1. President
  2. Vice Presidents (3)
  3. General Secretary
  4. Secretary
  5. Treasurer
  6. Secretary, Literature
  7. Secretary, Publicity

President

  • The President shall be the highest officer of the Sanstha.
  • He/she shall have the authority to open Sanstha’s accounts in banks and for issuing cheques on behalf of the Santha over his/her signatures.

Vice Presidents

In the absence of the President, all the three Vice Presidents shall chair the proceedings of the General Body turn by turn.

General Secretary

  • He/She shall record the proceedings of the Executive as well as of the General Body meetings.
  • It will be the primary responsibility of the General Secretary to make arrangements, from time to time, for literary meetings and the meetings of the General Body in accordance with the provisions of the Sanstha’s constitution.
  • As the Sanstha’s representative, the General Secretary shall be in charge of the correspondence concerning the Sanstha.
  • The General Secretary shall be the Chief Coordinator of the diverse committees of the Sanstha.
  • It shall also be the responsibility of the General Secretary to make arrangements for different programmes of the Sanstha and to ensure proper coordination between them.

Secretary

The Secretary shall assist the General Secretary in management and office work of the Sanstha. In the absence of the General Secretary, he/she shall also assume the responsibilities of the General Secretary.

Treasurer

  • To maintain proper records of the income and expenditure of the Sanstha.
  • To maintain records of the Sanstha’s publications.
  • To maintain a stock-register of the Sanstha’s property.
  • To have an annual audit of the Sanstha’s income and expenditure carried out and obtain the audit report.
  • To keep in safe custody the pass-books and cheque-books of the Sanstha’s bank accounts.
  • To carry out, along with the General Secretary, or the President, or both of them, a scrutiny of the Sanstha’s account book at least twice a year.

Secretary, Literature

In addition to conducting regular literary meetings, he/she shall plan and conduct, under the supervision of the Executive, literary programmes outside Jammu.

Secretary, Publicity

Secretary, Publicity shall liaise with the print and electronic media in respect of all the activities of the Sanstha and prepare reports on such activities for dissemination to all the media.

Article 10: The Sanstha’s Funds

  1. For a three-year membership of the Sanstha, the members shall be charged membership fee of Rs 100/- each.
  2. The Sanstha shall also accept financial assistance from the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi and the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages to carry out its programmes.
  3. Items-wise details of income and expenditure shall be recorded clearly and in an appropriate manner.
  4. The Sanstha’s funds shall be kept in banks as determined by the Executive Committee and all the financial dealings shall be made through cheques. The Sanstha’s cheques shall be issued over the signatures of the President and General Secretary or the Treasurer.
  5. An Office Secretary and Chowkidar et cetera shall be employed by the Executive Committee to assist in office work and maintain security. Such persons shall be paid honorarium as decided by the Executive Committee.
  6. In addition to depositing the Sanstha’s monies with the bank, the Executive Committee shall have the authority to invest, in order to earn profit for the Sanstha, a portion of the funds in some lucrative schemes of the Union and State Governments.
  7. An amount of Rs 1000/- shall be kept as ‘Impressed Money’ to meet the day-to- day expenses of the Sanstha. The Impressed Money shall be kept with the Office Secretary and will be spent in consultation with the President or the General Secretary.

THE AMENDMENTS APPROVED AT THE MEETINGS OF THE GENERAL BODY HELD TILL 2018 HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED