Constitution and Rules

of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding

(Registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860)

NAME

1. The name of the Society shall be The INDIAN SOCIETY OF GENETICS AND PLANT BREEDING.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

2. The aims and objectives of the Society shall be to:

advance the cause of genetics and plant breeding and to encourage and promote study and research in these disciplines in the service of agriculture.
disseminate the knowledge of genetics and plant breeding,
provide facilities for association and conference among students of genetics and plant breeding. And for encouragement of close relationship between them and those in the related sciences,
advocate policies in the interest of the nation in the field of genetics and plant breeding, and
facilitate international cooperation in the field of genetics and plant breeding.

MEMBERSHIP

3. The membership of the Society shall be open to all persons interested in any field of genetics and plant breeding.

4. There shall be three classes of members:

Life members
Ordinary members
Honorary members

ELECTION OF MEMBERS

5. A Life Member or an Ordinary Member shall be proposed by any two existing members of the Society to whom the nominee is known. The names of the candidates, and those proposing them, shall be placed before the Executive Council. Members shall be elected either by a unanimous vote of the Executive Council or by a simple majority of votes of the members present at a General Body Meeting if the Executive Council fails to arrive at unanimous decision. The newly elected members will be formally admitted to the Society at a General Body Meeting. The eligibility for being proposed a member will be fixed by the General Body from time to time. The membership of a new member will be effective after he/she deposits registration fee and the annual membership or life membership fee.

6. Honorary members who are distinguished geneticists and plant breeders, shall be recommended to the Society by the Executive Council after getting consents from the nominated scientist and elected at a General Body Meeting by a four fifths majority of the members present and voting at the meeting. A panel of names for honorary membership will be selected by a collegium of four each of the past and the incumbent Presidents, Secretaries and Editors of the Society. The number of honorary members shall not exceed five percent of the total membership at the time of their election.

PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS

7. The Life and an Ordinary Members shall have the right to vote at all meetings of the General Body, to propose candidates for admission to the Society and shall have other rights, privileges and duties as mentioned in various sections of this Constitution and amended from time to time by the General Body. They shall also be entitled, so long as their annual subscription (in case of annual members) is not in arrears, to receive a printed copy of each issue of the Society’s journal and such other publications of the Society as the Executive Council may determine and, access to all the publications on the Society’s website.

The rights and privileges of a member will cease in case of default in dues to the Society of the type and duration determined by the General Body.

8. Honorary members shall enjoy all the privileges of Ordinary Members without having to pay the subscription, except that they shall not be eligible to contest for any office or vote at the meetings of the General Body, if they are not also life or ordinary members.

FEES

9. There shall be no admission fee but a registration fee fixed by the General Body.

10. There will a lifetime membership fee for newly admitted Life Members and an annual membership fee for Ordinary Members as fixed by the General Body from time to time on recommendation of the Executive Council.

The annual subscription fee prevailing at the time of the membership is payable every year in advance, and shall become due on the 1st day of each financial year (April to March), except that a candidate elected during the month of February or March shall not have to pay the subscription for the current year unless he desires to receive the publications of the Society issued to the members in that particular year.

11. The life membership fee shall be equal to twelve annual subscriptions payable in one to three equal installments to be paid within a year from the time a member applies for life membership.

Ordinary Members, who have held their membership of the Society for more than twelve years without break, shall be eligible to commute the membership fee paid in the previous six years, towards payment of life membership fee. The members shall submit applications for commutation in writing to the Secretary of the Society accompanied by the balance of life membership fee in lump sum.

12. After the lapse of one year of subscription falling in arrears, the membership will be cancelled automatically.

13. Within one month of the end of each financial year, the Treasurer shall send reminder to every member, whose subscription is in arrears. If the arrears are not paid within three months of the dispatch of the letter, the Executive Council shall remove the member’s name from the Society’s register.

14. Any member whose name has been removed from the register of the Society under the preceding rule may seek admission as a new member on payment of registration fee and the membership fee.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

15. There shall be an Executive Council, which shall carry on all the affairs of the Society in accordance with the Constitution and policy and rules of the Society fixed and approved by the General Body.

16. The Executive Council shall consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer, an Editor, and six Councillors elected by the General Body.

17. The Secretary, Editor and Treasurer shall be elected from the place where the headquarter of the Society is situated. The President and Vice-Presidents can be elected from anywhere in India. A Councillor for a zone will be elected from any place within that zone out of the six specified zones defined by the General Body.

18. The Executive Council shall be elected for two years. No member, except the Editor, will hold the same executive office for more than two consecutive terms and not more than one term if he/she has held any other office in any earlier term. To maintain the continuity in the publication policy and standards the Editor can seek election for three consecutive term of two years each. Keeping the dignity of the position of the President in view, any member who has served as President can seek re-election as President for only one more term but only after the lapse of three terms after the term in which he/she held the post.

19. General duties and privileges of the Executive Council

The Executive Council shall be responsible for managing the Society’s business as per the Society Constitution/bye- laws, rules and policies formulated by the General Body.
The Executive Council will have the power to appoint committees/sub-committees and delegate them with such powers as needed to carry out work assigned to them and make suitable recommendations.
The Executive Council will suggest any modification to the bye-laws and rules of the Society as and when required with the provision that these modifications are consistent with the Constitution for approval by the General Body of the Society.
The Executive Council shall recommend Honorary Members for election by the General Body.

20. An Executive Council shall continue as a caretaker till the next Executive is elected but for not more than two months after the term expires. Sufficient care will be taken to ensure the elections are held as per schedule and that the Society is not left without any elected Executive. During the interregnum between the expiry of the term of an incumbent Executive Council and the new Executive Council taking over, no major or policy decision will be taken or implemented.

21. Duties and privileges of the President

The President shall be the constitutional Head of the Society.
The President shall preside over the Executive and General Body meetings of the Society.
The President shall have the privilege of exercising the casting vote in case of equal division among Executive Council/General Body members, however under normal circumstances, he shall have no right to veto or overrule the majority decisions of the members at the Executive Council or General Body meeting.
The President shall represent or nominate one or more Executive Council member(s) or general member(s) of the Society to any national or international gathering/association from which the Society receives invitation to participate in consultation with the Council or subject to ratification by the Council in case of urgency.

22. Duties and privileges of the Vice-Presidents
One of the Vice-Presidents, senior by age, or the Vice-President available at the venue of a meeting shall exercise all the duties and privileges of the President including presiding over Executive Council/General Body meetings in the absence of the President. Otherwise, the Vice-Presidents will have the same duties and privileges as any other member of the Council.

23. Duties and privileges of the Secretary

The Secretary shall be responsible for calling, in consultation with the President, meetings of the General Body and the Executive Council, recording the proceeding of the meetings of the General Body and Executive Council meetings of the Society and shall take appropriate actions to implement the recommendations and resolutions of the Executive Council and of the General Body. The proceedings of any Executive Council meeting shall be signed by all members present in the meeting before dispersing. The Clause 28 below shall prevail in the case of either the Secretary or the President or both, are responsible for not calling meetings and the meeting will be called by any member of the Executive Council.
The Secretary shall be responsible for conducting all day-today business, for administering the funds in consultation with the Treasurer of the Society and for maintaining the establishment in accordance with the powers assigned to him/her by the General Body from time to time as provided in the Executive Constitution. For this purpose he shall be given an appropriate administrative staff appointed on a contractual basis and office facilities paid for from the Society’s funds.
In case of long absence or resignation of the Treasurer, the Secretary shall also function as Treasurer till the Treasurer joins back or a new Treasurer is nominated by the Executive Council from among the Executive Council members available at the Headquarters or, in case of non availability of a Council member, a general member available at the Headquarters. However, when the Secretary has to execute the duties of the Treasurer in matters relating to financial expenditures he/she shall exercise the power in conjunction with another member nominated by the Executive Council for this purpose. Only in cases of extreme urgency the Secretary himself/herself shall exercise the powers of the Treasurer subject to ratification by the Executive Council.
In the case of long absence or non-availability of the Secretary, the Executive Council will nominate a member of the Executive Council (other than the Treasurer) available at the Headquarters, or in the case of non-availability of such a member, a general member available at the Headquarters to act as the Secretary for the remaining period of the term of the Executive Council.

24. Duties and privileges of the Treasurer

The Treasurer shall keep accounts, shall receive deposits and disburse funds on behalf of the Society under the directions of the Executive Council and in day-to-day consultation with the Secretary.
The Treasurer shall present the audited accounts of the Society at the annual General Body meeting.
The Treasurer shall assist the Secretary in maintaining the financial control of the Society’s accounts and day-to-day financial matters relating to Society’s activities.

25. Duties and privileges of the Editor

The Editor shall be head of the Editorial Board constituted by the Executive Council. The members, ten in number, of the Editorial Board will represent, as far as possible, different sub specializations of genetics and plant breeding. The Editor will suggest a panel of 20 names out of which the Council will select in consultation with the Editor ten names. In the case of discontinuation of any of the Editorial Board members the Executive Council will select substitutes from the panel submitted by the Editor. The functioning of the Editorial Board will be reviewed by the Executive Council each year and, if necessary, appropriate changes will be made in its composition in consultation with the Editor.
The Executive Council shall also appoint two Associate Editors coterminous with the tenure of the Editor out of a panel of five members recommended by the Editor to assist the Editor in publication of the Journal and other publications of the Society. The Editor will report to the Executive Council on the performance of the Associate Editors yearly, each based on which the Executive Council will take appropriate decisions.
The Editor along with the Associate Editors and the Editorial Board shall be responsible for determining the procedure for evaluation and publication of the research articles and for maintaining the quality of publications in the Society’s Journal. However, the final decision on any matter related to publications will rest with the Editor. They will also be responsible for the procedure of publication and maintenance of quality of other publications of the society.

26. Duties and privileges of the Councillors

The Zonal Councillors shall advise the Council on the working of the Society as defined above at its meetings.
They shall be responsible for efficient functioning and activities of the respective zonal and local chapters of the Society.

27. Auditing of the Society’s Accounts
All accounts of the Society shall be audited annually by an accredited scheduled Chartered Accountant of India nominated at the annual General Body meeting. The Treasurer shall submit to the auditor, not later than the end of August each year, the accounts of the Society for the preceding financial year (April to March).

MEETINGS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

28. The Executive Council shall meet at least at quarterly intervals, the first meeting being on the assumption of office by the new Executive Council after election. The quarterly meetings should normally be fixed for the last Saturday of the last month of a quarter. In any case, the meeting should not be delayed for more than fifteen days from the due date. Any member of the Executive Council failing to attend three consecutive meetings without leave of absence will cease to be a member of the Executive Council. The Executive Council can meet more than once in a quarter if the business of the Society so require.

29. The date and time of holding each Executive Council meeting fixed in consultation with the President shall be notified by the Secretary to each member of the Council by e-mail at least three weeks before the scheduled date. The notice by e-mail will be confirmed by letter. Nonreceipt of such notice by any member of the Executive Council shall in no way invalidate the proceedings of the meeting. Five members of the Executive Council shall form a quorum. The members will send agenda items, if any, to the Secretary at least two weeks in advance of the date of the meeting. The Secretary will strive to circulate the agenda items among the Executive Council members at least seven days in advance.

30. An extraordinary meeting of the Executive Council may be called by the Secretary, if at least one-third of the members of the Executive Council requisition in writing (including e-mail) citing the special agenda, to the Secretary within seven days of receiving the notice, the Secretary will call the meeting with a notice (by e-mail) of at least seven days.

MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY

31. The General Body meeting of the Society shall be presided by the President, or by the senior most (senior by age) Vice-President available, or by the Secretary, or by a member of the Council elected at the meeting for this purpose, in that order depending on the presence in the meeting once the notice of the meeting has been issued by the Secretary as decided by the Executive Council.

32. An extraordinary meeting of the Society may be called with a notice of at least fifteen days if fifty of those members of the Society who are eligible to vote shall send a requisition to the Secretary for such a meeting.

33. The General Body of the Society shall meet normally, once in a year, any time during the last two months in a calendar year. The meeting shall, however, be held not later than January of the succeeding calendar year. The date of the Annual General Body Meeting shall be announced by the Executive Council at least one month before the meeting and the Secretary will notify the date by e-mail to all members and also confirmed by letter. All notices of motions shall be received by the Secretary at least one month before the meeting.

ELECTION OF OFFICE BEARERS

34. All elections to the offices shall take place through secret postal ballot by all life and ordinary members (whose dues are cleared) at least one month before the expiry of the term of the incumbent Executive Council.

A returning officer for this purpose will be appointed by the Executive Council in its penultimate quarterly meeting. The returning officer will notify the election and call for nominations by at least two eligible members for each nomination, from among the existing eligible members subject to Rule 18 above and Rules 35 and 36 below, for various posts of the Executive Council within fifteen days of his/her appointment by e-mail, to the eligible members of the Society and the call for elections will also be posted on the Society’s website. The last date for receipt of nominations along with the acceptance by the nominees will be the 30th day after notification (the date of notification not included). The last date for withdrawal of nominations will be the fifteenth day after the last date of receipt of nominations. The returning officer shall dispatch the list of nominations to each eligible member of the Society by e-mail and shall post the same on the website of the Society within 15 days of the last date of withdrawal of nominations. A copy of the ballot paper will be sent by email and posted on the website of the Society. The members of the Society will send their votes on the prescribed ballot paper by ordinary post in closed double envelopes as instructed by the returning officer and mentioned on the ballot paper, to the address of the returning officer so as to reach the returning officer not later than the twenty-fifth day of posting of the list of nominations on the website of the Society. The returning officer will announce the results of election on the website of the Society within five days after the last date of receipt of the votes and simultaneously also give the results of the election in writing under his/her signature to the Secretary. The elected Executive will assume office immediately after the election as early as possible, but not later than 21 days of the announcement of results of election.

35. Keeping in view the high dignity of the post of the President of the Society and that the reputation of its President is one of the important determinants of the dignity of the Society. The nomination for the post of the President shall be done by a Collegium of past Presidents, Secretaries and Editors, comprising four each of the immediate past and surviving Presidents, Secretaries and Editors of the Society and the incumbent President, Secretary and Editor. The Collegium will be notified by the outgoing Executive Council after the date of election is decided. The senior most (by age) past President in the Collegium will preside over the Collegium and the incumbent Secretary will be the Member Secretary. The members of the Collegium will consider the nominations received from the members (including the members of collegium) of the Society. The Collegium shall select from among the nominations by deciding on the basis of a simple majority a panel of five eligible members of the Society well known for their contribution to the sciences of genetics and plant breeding. A transparent and unbiased set of criteria for selection of the panel will be decided by the Collegium and will be put in its proceedings when selection is made. If any information is required by the Collegium for deciding on the criteria, the Secretary will arrange to collect the information from the nominators. The members of the Society will elect one of the members of the selected panel as the President.

36. Also keeping in view the fact that the publications of the Society are the face of the Society and the Society is known and valued by them, it is essential that the Editor is a well known scientist in the field of genetics and plant breeding with proven ability to review and edit scientific and technical publications with impartiality to ensure that Society’s publications are of high quality. The selection of a panel for the post of the Editor shall also be done by the Collegium appointed for the selection for the panel of the President. The procedure of nomination will be same as that for the President. The Collegium shall nominate on the basis of simple majority a panel of maximum five eligible members of the Society suitable for the post of Editor. The members of the Society will elect one of the members of the selected panel as the Editor.

37. Within fourteen days after the new Executive Council assumes office, a list of the new Council Members along with their names, addresses and occupations shall be filed with the Registrar of Societies, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

THE SOCIETY’S JOURNAL

38. The Society shall publish a journal. The Editor together with the Editorial Board and the Associate Editors shall be responsible for the Journal in all its scientific and technical aspects. However the Editor will undertake any major changes proposed in policy matters and matters like get up of the journal in consultation of the Executive Council. The Editor may also be asked by the Council for clarifications in these matters.

39. The cost of Society’s publications in print (including postage) and in the electronic form from the nonmembers will be fixed by the Executive Council. The Executive Council will also decide on matters like tariffs for advertisements in the Society’s publications in print or electronic medium.

40. The Editor along with the Secretary and the Treasurer will take decisions on routine matters relating to Society’s publications (both electronic and print) such as selection of the publishing house through a transparent process, timely publication and dispatch of the Journal.

There will be no reprint services and only electronic copies will be available on demand. In case of difference of opinion among the Editor, the Secretary and the Treasurer, the matter will be placed before the Executive Council and decided by majority vote.

CONFERENCE/SYMPOSIA

41. The Society will organize Indian Genetics Congress at 5 yearly intervals. The Congress will cover all disciplines related to genetics and plant breeding. The Society will also organize one-day annual symposia on the important current topic of genetics and plant breeding on the occasion of Annual General Body meeting.

WITHDRAWL OR REMOVAL OF MEMBERS

42. A member may withdraw from the Society through a letter addressed to the Secretary and sent by post or e-mail. The Society, however, shall not be liable to return any fee that may have been paid by the member in advance.

43. A member who has withdrawn and whose subscription is not in arrears shall automatically recover his/her membership without re-election if he/she rejoins the Society through a written request to the Secretary within a year of withdrawal provided his/her withdrawal is not accompanied by any activity detrimental to the Society in any manner. He shall be liable to pay all dues as if he/she had not renounced the membership.

44. If, in the opinion of the Executive Council, any member of the Society has acted against its aims and objects or in a manner detrimental to the interests of the Society, it may, after giving him/her an opportunity to be heard, recommend to the General Body removal of such member from the membership of the Society.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ZONAL CHAPTERS

45. The society shall establish its zonal/local chapters as per the guidelines laid down by the Committee set up for this purpose by the Executive Council subject to approval of the General Body.

PROPERTY OF THE SOCIETY

46. The property, movable and immovable, belonging to the Society shall be deemed to be vested for the time being in the Executive Council and in all proceedings, civil and criminal, shall be described as the property of the Executive Council of the Society by their property title. The President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Society shall be the Trustees of all the property belonging to or intended to be acquired by the Society and shall have the power to sign jointly, execute and register any deed and documents or instruments in this connection on approval of the Executive Council.

47. As far as possible, whenever an opportunity arises, the savings of the Society shall be invested in the Government securities and nationalized banks with a view to improving the financial health of the Society. The Executive Council shall take necessary advice from competent professionals in the matters of investment.

48. The Society’s accounts will be operated jointly by the Secretary and Treasurer.

49. The income and property of the Society shall be solely utilized for the promotion of its objectives as set forth in the Memorandum and no portion there of shall be distributed among its members by way of dividend, bonus, etc.

50. If at any time the Society is dissolved and if there shall remain upon such dissolution after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities any funds and property whatsoever, the same shall not be paid or distributed among the members of the Society but shall be given to some other society to be determined by the votes of not less than twothirds of the members at the time of dissolution.

ALTERATION, EXTENSION OR ABRIDGEMENT OF THE PURPOSES OF THE SOCIETY

51. Whenever it shall appear to the Executive Council or General Body that it is advisable to alter, extend or abridge the aims and objects of the Society, as set forth in the Memorandum, to or for other purposes, or to amalgamate the Society, either wholly or partially with any other Society, the Executive Council may submit a proposal to the members of the Society in writing and may convene a special meeting for consideration thereof; but no such proposal shall be carried into effect unless such proposal shall have been delivered by e-mail and by post to every member of the Society thirty days before the special meeting to be convened by the Executive Council unless such proposal shall have been agreed to by the votes of two-thirds of the total membership of the Society delivered by post and e-mail and confirmed by the votes of three-fourths of the members present at the special meeting convened by the Executive Council at least after an interval of one month after the previous General Body meeting.

AMENDMENT TO THE RULES

52. The above rules may be amended at any Annual or an Extra Ordinary General Body meeting of the Society called by the Secretary following the procedure described under rule 32.

53. A proposal for the amendment of these Rules may be made either by the Executive Council or by at least fifty members of the Society. In the latter case, the Executive Council will examine the proposal and prepare its recommendations. The Executive Council’s proposal or the members’ proposal along with the Council’s recommendations will be circulated by the Secretary among the members of the Society at least one month before the next Annual General Body meeting. The proposals will be accepted by a two-thirds majority of the General Body present at the meeting and voting

54. The Council may, with the sanction of the General Body of the Society, frame or alter bye-laws for the working of the Society consistent with its Constitution and Rules.

HEADQUARTERS

55. The Headquarters of the Society shall be the Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012 and will operate from the National Agricultural Science Complex, D. P. Shastry Marg, New Delhi.

ELECTION OF MEMBERS

PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS