General body meeting May 2000

Minutes of the General Body (GB) meeting held in the evening of May 6, 2000

Bengali Cultural Society, Cleveland, Ohio is a non profit Corporation, incorporated in the state of Ohio and is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described under section 501 (c) (3)./strong>

A General Body (GB) meeting was held in the evening of May 6, 2000. It was attended by 114 Members of BCS. The Members were informed of the agenda well in advance. The following Issues were discussed, status was reported and Resolutions were passed.

Issue 1: BCS Scholarship Fund:
Fund has been deposited in a separate bank account. As of 5/6/00, total money raised is $15,195, of which $3,746 was transferred from BCS surplus operating fund (over 12/31/98 level and as approved by the GB on 10/23/99), $1000 was transferred from BCS Savings account (as approved by the GB on 10/23/99), $10,249 was raised from BCS Members’ donation, and $200 was raised from our children (BCS Youth). As of 5/6/00, total outstanding pledges from BCS Members is $2,550; this brings the grand total to $17,545.

Resolution 1: "It is proposed that a BCS Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee be formed."
Resolution 1 was passed unanimously; more than 98 Members voting for the Resolution.

Resolution 2: " It is proposed that BCS Scholarship Fund Advisory Committee (‘Scholarship Committee’) will have the following responsibilities:
The Scholarship Committee will:

establish a Legal Trust Fund (for BCS Scholarship Fund)

raise money for the Trust Fund

undertake actions to enlarge the Trust Fund

oversee the Trust Fund for BCS

advise and keep BCS informed

advise BCS on similar activities"

Resolution 2 was passed unanimously; more than 91 Members voting for the Resolution.

Resolution 3: "It is proposed that BCS Scholarship Committee will have the following structure and will follow the following guidelines:

the Scholarship Committee will have five (5) Members (except as noted in Resolution 3c) elected by GB.

On May 6, 2000, GB will elect five Members for the Scholarship Committee.

All five (5) Members elected on May 6, 2000 will continue their terms till 12/31/01.

One of these Members will complete his or her term on 12/31/01. The incoming President for the year 2002 will replace the retiring Member to become the fifth Member of the Scholarship Committee. In the event the incoming President is a sitting Member of the Scholarship Committee, the GB will elect a new Member for the following five years.For the year 2001, the President of BCS for the year 2001, will become the sixth Member of the Scholarship Committee; this is a one-time exception. For any other year, the total number of Members of the Scholarship Committee will be five (5).

The second, third, fourth, and fifth Members elected on May 6, 2000, will complete his or her term on 12/31/02, 12/31/03, 12/31/04, and 12/31/ 05 respectively. BCS GB will elect one Member, each year, to fill the position vacated as noted above; the newly elected Members (elected starting 12/31/01) will serve full five years’ term each.

The Members of the Scholarship Committee, elected on May 6, 2000, will establish a procedure by which they will complete their terms, one Member each year starting 12/31/01.

Except as noted above, BCS GB will elect one Member, each year, to fill the position vacated by a Member each year.

The Members of the Scholarship Committee will elect a Chair Person."

Resolution 3 was passed unanimously; more than 95 Members voting for the Resolution.

Resolution 4: "It is proposed that BCS Scholarship Committee will have the following the members, elected on the night of May 6, 2000 and that all the members elected thus will serve till 12/31/01. There after the members elected thus, on the night of 5/6/00, will complete their term(s) as described in the approved Resolution 3:

Brojesh Pakrashi – Chairperson
Gopal Saha
Jayati Rakhit
Kalyan Dasgupta
Ajit Patra"

Resolution 4 was passed unanimously; more than 98 Members voting for the Resolution.

Resolution 5: "It is proposed that BCS Scholarship Fund will be a Legal Trust Fund under the following general guide lines:

The Scholarship Fund (‘Fund’) will be an irreversible Legal Trust Fund.

The Fund can never be used for any purpose other than educational scholarships in West Bengal, India.

The Fund will never revert back to BCS.

In the unlikely event of the dissolution of BCS, the administration and management of the Fund will be taken over by the last recipient organization(s) and will be used for educational scholarships in West Bengal, India"

Resolution 5 was passed unanimously; more than 95 Members voting for the Resolution.

The Executive Committee (EC) advised the GB that, as approved by the GB on 10/23/99, starting June/July 2000, the following organizations would receive scholarships in amounts as noted:

$500: Sri Sarada Math - - for girls students:

-Vivekananda College for Girls – 10 scholarships
-Sister Nivedita Girls’ School – 5 scholarships

$1000: for Ramakrishna Mission Colleges ( Belur and Narendra Pur): 16 scholarships for boys

Resolution 6: "It is proposed that the following policies be followed as to the selection of the recipient Organizations and award of scholarships:

It is the policy of BCS to continue awarding scholarships to these organizations (Ramakrishna Mission and Sarada Math) for at least three years.

BCS shall give at least three years’ notice for cancellation/reduction of scholarships.

Any cancellation/reduction of scholarships for the recipient organizations will require two-thirds (legal) membership approval. A notarized document showing the actual signatures of the two-third legal members approving such a change in a GB meeting will be submitted to the Bank (custodian of the Scholarship/Trust Fund) for verification. Further, such cancellation/reduction of scholarships must be thoroughly discussed, then votes taken to receive two-thirds majority in a legally and constitutionally convened GB meeting of BCS"

Resolution 6 was passed unanimously; more than 97 Members voting for the Resolution.

Issue 2: BCS Tax-exemption Status:

The EC discussed and apprised the members of the following:

BCS is a non-profit corporation incorporated in September, 1999 in the state of Ohio.

Effective December 17, 1999 BCS is exempt from federal income tax under specific guidelines; members should consult their tax attorney for determination of tax liability.

IRS Tax reporting: 990 EZ and Schedule A.

State reporting: copy of above to the State of Ohio.

BCS is required to file for the year 1999 and there after.

Record keeping: BCS is now a legal entity; record keeping must be in line with the Federal and State requirement. The records are being organized in keeping with above requirement.

Audit: future audit is possible

Contact person and address: in the event of a change in the Officer(s) and address IRS needs to be notified. The members were asked to think about a solution of this issue.

Issue 3: BCS Web Page:

The members expressed great satisfaction and appreciation to have such a nice Web Page and thanked the three permanent members (Jayanta Panda, Saumen Sarkar and Kalyan Dasgupta) for such a wonderful job they have done in such a short time. The GB on 12/11/99, had formed BCS Web Page Committee and had elected the following members for that Committee:

Kalyan Dasgupta
Jayanta Panda
Saumen Sarkar, and
Ajit Patra (present President)

The GB also authorized the Web Page Committee to publish, in the Web Page, BCS Directory with e-mail addresses of BCS members. Prior to this GB meeting, members were solicited by the EC for their opinion as to their objection, if any, in publishing their e-mail addresses in BCS Directory. Only one member family had objected to publishing their e-mail address in BCS Directory and their e-mail address is kept out of the Directory. Because of the special expertise required of the committee members, and for the continuity, the following resolution was presented for GB approval:

Resolution 7: "It is recommended that GB approve the following:

First three members (Jayanta Panda, Saumen Sarkar and Kalyan Dasgupta) will continue their terms through at least 12/31/2002.

Starting 1/1/2003, only one member may complete his term each year; GB will elect a replacement"

Resolution 7 was passed unanimously; more than 95 Members voting for the Resolution.

Issue 4: New Durga Protimas for BCS:

The EC and the members discussed the poor conditions of Protimas and further discussed pros and cons of different ways as to getting new Protimas. The following resolutions were presented to GB for approval:

Resolution 8: "It is proposed that new Protimas be acquired for BCS."

Resolution 8 was passed unanimously; more than 100 Members voting for the Resolution. In order to facilitate acquiring new Protimas GB discussed formation of a committee that will review various options and report to GB the most optimal solution. The following resolution was presented to GB for approval:

Resolution 9: "It is proposed that Ashoke Banerjee be elected as the Chairman of a Committee that will study various options for new Protimas and will recommend to GB the best solution for approval and that Ashoke Banerjee be given the responsibility to select the other members of this Committee."

Resolution 9 was passed uunanimously; more than 90 Members voting for the Resolution.