Rules, Regulations and Bye-laws of the Ramakrishna Mission (1909)

RAMAKRISHNA MATH OF BELUR

(The Trust Deed of Belur Math was executed by Vivekananda in 1899 and registered the same in 1901)

The Ramakrishna Order was established after the death of Vivekananda (Narendranath Dutta – July 4, 1902). On 4th May 1909, Ramakrishna Mission, with eight Trustees of Belur Math as its promoters and with a Memorandum of Association and a body of rules, regulations and bye-laws, was registered under Act XXI of 1860 (Societies Registration Act, 1860 on 4th of May 1909) of the Governor General of India in Council.

(It is said that the Original Copy of the Trust Deed of Belur Math has been stolen around 1942-45)

Mahanta of the Ramkrishna Math is called PRESIDENT of Belur Math

First Mahanta Swami Brahmananda (1901–1922)

Global Headquarters at Belur Math, Belur, Howrah

1. Ramakrishna Math, a registered Trust (1901)
2. Ramakrishna Mission, a registered Society (1909)

Present status: An NGO (Accepts Government funds for Relief works, etc); believes that Ramakrishna was Bhagavan and that what he said was the commentary on the Vedas of Sanatan Dharma. He corrected the mistakes of Adi Sankaracharya.

RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION

DATE: 4th May 1909

OBJECTS

1. The Association is established for the purposes expressed in the Memorandum of Association.

MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES

2. All followers, whether lay or monastic, of the Paramahamsa Ramkrishna may be members of the Association if elected at a meeting of the Association or nominated by the Governing Body hereinafter mentioned.

3. All persons irrespective of colour, creed or caste, sympathising with all or any of the objects of the Association may be associates if elected or nominated as mentioned in Rule 2, regarding the election of members.

4. Monastic members shall not be required to pay any admission fee or any subscription.

5. Every lay member and every associate, unless exempted therefrom in writing by the Governing Body, shall pay an admission fee of Rs. 5 and an annual subscription of Rs. 5 payable by two half-yearly instalments in advance. The Governing Body may exempt any member or associate from payment of all or any fees or subscriptions.

6. The annual subscription shall be commuted by a payment of Rs. 100.

7. Connection of members and associates with the Association shall cease by resignation or non-payment of dues for two years, but shall be capable of renewal in such manner as the Governing Body may from time to time determine.

8. Members shall be entitled to:

(a) Vote at all meetings of the Association, use the Library attached to the Math at Belur in the District of Howrah, and reside at the Math temporarily subject to rules and regulations prescribed by the Math authorities.
(b) Attend all classes formed by the Association for the instruction of its members and receive individual instruction whenever practicable.
(c) Receive all publications of the Association at a special discount of 25 per cent on the published price.
(d) Mufussil members shall be entitled to receive English or Bengali proceedings, reports and leaflets published by the Association on payment of postage dues.

9. Associates shall have all the privileges of members except the right to vote at meetings.

MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION

10. There shall be one ordinary meeting of the Association every year, to be held at such place and time as the President shall from time to time determine.

11. Extraordinary general meetings of the Association may be convened either by the President or by a requisition signed by not less than five members of the Governing Body, or by a requisition signed by not less than eight members of the Association. The time and place of such extraordinary meetings shall be determined by the President or by the Requisitionists with the consent of the President.

12.

(a) Each member shall have a single vote in all meetings of the Association, except the President, who shall have a casting vote in case of a tie.
(b) In the absence of the President, a member of the Governing Body of the Association will be elected to preside at any of its meetings.
(c) The Secretary shall duly notify to the members the time and place of the meetings of the Association at least twenty-four hours before such a meeting takes place.
(d) The Treasurer will collect all funds, dues, donations, and contributions and deposit the same in a Bank, in the name of the Ramkrishna Mission.

13.

(a) Not less than five members shall form a quorum in any meeting of the Association, competent to proceed with the business of the meeting.
(b) The Accountant shall keep clear accounts of the income and expenses of the Association and report the same at the meetings of the Governing Body.

THE GOVERNING BODY

14. The management of the Association and its affairs shall be vested in the Trustees for the time being of the Indenture of Trust dated the 30th day of January 1901, usually called the Trust Deed of the Belur Math, who shall form the Governing Body of the Association. If at any time there shall be no acting Trustee of the said Belur Math, the Association in a general meeting may appoint a Governing Body of the Association, constituted as the Association in such meeting shall determine.

15. The Governing Body shall from among its members elect a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary or Secretaries, a Treasurer and an Accountant of the Association, and assign to them their respective duties, and they shall form the Executive Committee of the Association.

16. The Governing Body shall be competent from time to time to frame rules for the conduct of its business and also to make bye-laws for the management of the Association and for the management, conduct and carrying on of its business and affairs, and also from time to time to vary or repeal such rules or bye-laws.

17. The Association in general meeting may disallow, rescind, cancel or alter any such rules or bye-laws, and may make rules or bye-laws for any of the purposes aforesaid.

18.

(a) The Governing Body shall be competent to delegate by a certificate in writing and bearing the seal of the Association, to any person or persons or body or bodies, such portions of their authority as they shall from time to time think fit, and at pleasure to revoke the authority so delegated.
(b) The Governing Body may confer the honorary position of an associate upon any one who has distinguished himself by educational and philanthropic works or otherwise.

19.

(a) The Governing Body shall cause proper records and accounts to be kept of the Association, its affairs and property.
(b) The Governing Body shall elect workers from among the members and associates of the Association and authorise and empower them to raise subscriptions, donations, etc., from the public, for furthering any object of the Association, by giving them certificates in writing bearing the seal of the Association, and take accounts from them of the same.

AUDIT

20. The accounts of the Association shall be annually audited by an auditor or auditors to be appointed by the Association in a meeting.

SEAL

21. The Association shall have a common seal of such make and design as the Governing Body shall decide.

22. The seal shall be affixed to all formal documents in the presence of two members of the Governing Body, of whom one shall be the President, the Vice-President, or the Secretary.

CONTRACTS

23. All contracts shall be made by two members of the Governing Body and the President, or in his absence the Secretary.

MISCELLANEOUS

24. The rules and regulations for the time being of the Association may from time to time be altered, added to, or rescinded by the Association in a general meeting.

BYE-LAWS

1. Philanthropic, charitable or any other kind of work started by the Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission in co-operation with the interested people of any locality outside of Belur shall be regarded as Branch Centres.

2.

(a) These will be managed by local committees and office-bearers, or by a single individual or individuals selected from among the local members and associates by the Governing Body.
(b) The duties and powers with which a local committee or any of its office-bearers is hereby entrusted shall, so far as applicable, be performed and exercised by a single individual or individuals authorised to manage a branch centre, the monthly detailed account of the work done in the centre and the sums drawn and disbursed for carrying on the work being submitted directly by such individual or individuals to the Governing Body of the Mission.

3. The Local Committees shall direct the business of those centres by rules and bye-laws framed by the Governing Body in consultation with the local members and associates or the people of the locality interested in those works.

4. Every such centre shall contribute, when capable, a sum of Rupees twelve annually to the Governing Body in consideration of its affiliation with the Association.

5. The sources of income of such institutions shall be subscriptions and donations from the public, and the money raised by such means shall be exclusively used for the welfare of such institutions.

6. Subscribers to such an institution, its bonafide workers, and medical men and other persons who render substantial and gratuitous service to such an institution, are eligible for election as members of the Ramkrishna Mission.

7. The Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission shall appoint a Chief Supervisor and a Local Committee with office-bearers for the management of affairs of every branch centre which is not managed by a single individual or individuals.

8. The Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission shall have power to remove and dissolve such Supervisors and Local Committees and appoint others in their place.

9. The Local Committee shall consist of not less than eight members including the Chief Supervisor and the Secretary, and each member shall have equal power to vote.

10. Subscriptions and donations shall be received by the Secretary or the Assistant Secretary, who shall grant a receipt for the same.

11. All moneys and deposit accounts, Government Promissory Notes and other securities shall stand in the name of the Ramkrishna Mission with the name of the local centres attached to it. The Local Treasurer shall have power to withdraw money and to draw interest at the requisition of the Local Secretary or the Local Assistant Secretary, who shall quote the necessary authority in drawing the same.

12. The Local Secretary or the Local Assistant Secretary shall call a meeting of the Local Committee every month, giving due notice of the business to be brought forward before the meeting to all the members of the Committee, and shall submit the proceedings of such and other meetings to the Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission.

13. The Local Secretary shall publish an annual report of the working of his Committee or branch centre.

14. In all meetings of the Local Committee, the presence of five members shall form a quorum. In the absence of the Local President or the Local Vice-President, the meeting shall elect a President from amongst the members present.

15. All questions before a meeting of the Local Committee shall be decided by a majority of votes. In cases of equal division, the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

16. The Local Secretary or the Local Assistant Secretary shall have power to call a meeting of the Local Committee at any time at the request of four members of the Local Committee.

17. The Local Secretary and the Local Assistant Secretary shall receive representations from the public and select the business to be taken up by the Local Managing Committee at its sitting, and shall hold communications on behalf of the Committee.

18. The Local Secretary with the Local Assistant Secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of the meetings under the signature of the Chairman, and a detailed account of the work done in the centre and of the sums drawn and disbursed by him for carrying on the work, and shall place them before the monthly meeting of the Local Committee.

19. The Local Committee shall have power to frame new rules at any future time for the furtherance of the object of such an institution with the sanction of the Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission.

20. The Secretary or the Assistant Secretary of the Local Committee should apply to the President of the Governing Body of the Ramkrishna Mission to empower with proper certificate bearing his own signature and the special seals of the Ramkrishna Mission, the workers elected by the Committee for raising subscriptions and donations in aid of the institution. Such workers should produce them, if wanted, before all donors for their satisfaction.

21. Such workers should carry receipt books to enter the sums donated with the signatures of the donors in their own handwriting. They should remit their collections to the Local Secretaries with the names and addresses of the donors at the end of every week without fail, and the Local Secretaries or the Local Assistant Secretaries should send acknowledgements of the sums thus received to the donors by return of post.

LIST OF MONASTIC MEMBERS

As it has been found expedient to publish a full list of the names of all the members of the Ramkrishna Math, Belur and its branches, as well as of the monastic members of the Ramkrishna Mission belonging to the head Math at Belur and its branches, with their respective offices, we publish them below:

Sannyasins

Brahmacharins

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