BODALI SEVA MANDAL UK Minutes of the Committee meeting held at Prouds Lane, Bilston on the 8th July 2012
Time- 11am to 4.30pm.The meeting commenced with prayers and the President, Hasmukhbhai B Patel (HB) welcomed all.
1) Apologies of absence- as noted in the attendance book.
2) Minutes from previous meeting- approved but item 7) amended to “ Randhirbhai and 5 others”.
3) Matters arising- none
4) AGM 2012 Dudley Mandir: to be held on 9//9/12 10am-5pm. As new Committee members will be elected, BSMUK members can put in nominations for new members. An invite and newsletter will be sent out around 15/8/12 and posted on the website. The invite will be sent to all Bodalivasis and the wording that “their daughters will also be welcome” included, together with a plea for raffle and food donations. The morning session will include reports, AGM and elections with perhaps Guest Speakers between 2-5pm to talk about the water and other projects in Gam. A skype/video link was considered and Rameshbhai Gandabhai (RG) asked to look into whether the Dudley Mandir has the facilities .( By the end of the Committee meeting on 8/7/12 it was confirmed with Randhirbhai in Bodali that the school had skype facilities and he was happy to answer any questions UK members had regarding Bodali)- this “opportunity” is to be used to promote the AGM in the invite.
The Committee also decided that a back-up plan would be needed in case skype fails on 9/9//12 and perhaps someone who has just returned from Gam can give updates on news from there.
Rameshbhai G said that the Dudley Mandir was available for 4hrs on 8/9/12 so setting up can be done then and from 6am-6pm on 9/9/12, at a cost of £275 plus £30 for use of the gas for cooking. Hasmukhbhai (HB) to ask Laxmiben Maganbhai to help with the cooking and cater for 250-300 people. Morrisbhai and Rameshbhai will liase and arrange help for the catering.
Menu for the AGM will include potato shakh, veg. with ringan, daal, rice, papad, salad, poori and either Lapsi (first choice) or Mango raas. Budget total approx. £1000 for the AGM.
Chandrika (CP) to do 200 raffle envelopes at £5/5 strips of tickets.
Hasmukhbhai and Chandrika are to ring potential donors for raffle prizes.
5)Project updates
Water project-AL informed us that the Government were going to lease 10 blocks of land near the River Purna ( used to be approx 6lakh/block) but over 500 applications were made so Ghandinagar have decided to put it on an open auction. According to the Gujarat Sarkar newspaper for Bodali, there are rumours of the construction of a Dam and Gate to avoid flooding.
New pipeline- 80,000 Rs deposit has been paid by BSMUK in March 2012 to ensure that the Government funding for the pipeline is secured. The Government will give the funding to the Gam who will put the contract for its construction on tender. Work will be inspected by the government.
Total cost expected to be around 7.99 lakh(approx 664,000Rs)
Arvindbhai also confirmed that Montreal Bodalivasis had raised 2200 Canadian dollars for the RO plant via a fund-raising picnic. Toronto is to follow suit on 14/7/12. Remedial work also needs to be done on the old, leaky, pipes.
Eight motors are being used illegally in Gam at the moment. Severing electricity supply to these residents should reduce this malpractice. There is also a discrepancy about the frequency of water supply in the Gam, with Mota Falia getting their supplies twice a day but Khadi falia only once a day.
Why is this happening- AL to ask Randhirbhai to confirm.
With the new tank and old tank, it is hoped that the whole of Gam should get water supply even if either one fails to work for any reason.
HB is to make a drawing of the pipes- where located, which ones are completed, which ones need to be finished. AL will inform HB.
Sand extraction petition from Dec 2011-It is believed that some Bodalivasis do go to the District Collectors office approx every 6 weeks to protest. Gam Panchayat can stop renewal of the permit but their efforts are being ignored (and threats made to some who try).
HB and CP to write a letter to the District Collector’s office re lack of response to our petition.( Use excuse that we have AGM in Sept and need to inform our members). Another follow-up letter is to be sent in Dec 2012.
Bhajan Mandali –used every weekend and some Mandalis have visited other Gams also.
Volleyball– very active.
6)Endowment Fund(EF)
As this is on a “Charitable Interest Account”, the returns are very low at the moment due to very low interest rates. (Historically we got about £1000/yr, now about £15/quarter). As a Charity we are constrained as to which accounts we can invest in, depending on our Constitution. Uma Serju is
to investigate further. As our projects are linked to the EF, it was decided that we had a few options: BSMUK can persuade members to donate directly to a particular project eg the “Water fund” or contribute to the EF itself. Arvindbhai L (AL) informed the Committee that he had received an email from our Canadian Bodalivasis that those in Montreal had raised 2200 Canadian dollars and those in Toronto were holding a fund-raising picnic on 11/7/12 for the” RO” plant in Bodali, where a total of 78,000 Rs was needed.
Ramesh Manga had a print-out of the amounts that each town in the UK had contributed and also their Bodalivasi population figure. He suggested that we should target the towns which have a high population but a low contribution rate. Dahyabhai Ravjibhai and Parshottambhai D(PD) suggested that a social visit be carried out where possible to raise funds for the EF. Feedback and concerns by our UK Bodalivasis can be addressed and their confidence gained to reassure that their contributions will be used well and a better Bodali will benefit us all in the future.
It was decided to ask each new working member and those who have not given before to give a once in a life-time donation of £100/working member and include a cut-out slip at the bottom of the AGM invite to raise funds for the EF. Rameshbhai (RG) commented that £100/person may be too much for some people. However, since we asked for £100/pp in approx 1994, taking inflation into account we ought to continue with £100pp. At the AGM people can be given an option to pay by direct debit every 4-6months if necessary.
At the AGM, the EF report will be linked to the Finance report and added to the Agenda. After the AGM, each town rep will have to follow up on how their individual town contributed and target accordingly.
7) Website– has been live for more than one year. More items relevant to Gam needed to put on it and photos also. Mandhataglobal.com has the same information regarding Bodali as our website.
8)Finance Report –Rajesh Soma will prepare the final accounts and ask PD to audit before AGM on 9/9/12. An amended form with new signatures for “Responsible persons” has been sent to the Charities Commission to claim Gift Aid refunds. New receipt books will be printed before the AGM.
9)Any other business
Gaam cleaning- 50Rs per house/yr is collected by the Talati for keeping the Gam clean and a receipt is given. It is the Sarpanch’s duty then to ensure that this is done. AL to enquire why this is not done as parts of the Gam are dirty.
The mobile phone mast application has been made.
Hatpativads- AL also informed the Committee that about 50 people from the Hatpativad community had also attended the meeting in Dec 2011in Gam where presentations of Volleyball and Music equipment donated by BSMUK were made. They themselves had a meeting subsequently and one of their representatives said to AL that as each community’s needs are different, they requested if BSMUK could kindly consider donating wedding “vasan”- catering equipment to them. The Committee members discussed costing for this, where they would be stored, would they ask for other items in the future etc. Dahyabhai suggested that we ask the Gam Panchayat about their opinions as currently they share the wedding vasan with the Gam and perhaps they can continue to do so.
Hasmukhbhai thanked all for attending the meeting.
After prayers the meeting closed at 3.45pm
