Notes and Minutes of the advisory council meeting held on 16th Jan 2016

Day: Saturday

Date: 16th January 2016

Place: Conference call

Participants:

Ms Shanthi Iyer

Ms Usha Rangarajan

Ms Bindumalini Krishnan

Mr V G Krishnan

Mr Abhay Behera and Mr Rajeev Grover could not join the call as they were occupied with other engagements.

General: We lost almost a month of work in Chennai as a consequence of the floods on Dec 1st, in which we lost our Skoda Yeti too. The Chennai floods thus severely restricted our mobility and the opportunity to meet and connect with our stakeholders.

1. Status Update – current status updated on the website.

A. Numbers updated as of 15th Jan 2016:

Number of Districts Covered – 24

Number of Potential Partners identified – 30

Number of Partners signed up – 13

Number of Beneficiaries funded – 190

Money collected as donations – Rs. 10,19,530

Money disbursed to beneficiaries – Rs. 15,09,136

B. IT refund: Rs 10190 was refunded and transferred into our account by IT department this month

2. Status of IT Exemption – 80G and 12A – we have been following up on this almost on a fortnightly basis but the issue is still pending at the CIT E, Chandigarh. Have taken the decision to go in person by mid Feb once we are back in Gurgaon and ensure that we get the relevant certifications and exemptions. Have also decided to postpone the Yatra until we get this done.

3. Yatra Coverage: Have met a number of institutions and individuals between November and now, including Redington India CSR team in Chennai, NGOs such as Sevalaya, Sivananda Gurukulum, Bhumi and Mr James Prabhakar who coordinates and facilitates the work of nearly 700 NGOs across Tamil Nadu. We have also got 10 contacts of individuals and institutions working in TN in the higher education space.

Sevalaya, founded by Mr Murali, was introduced to us by Usha Rangarajan. The institution is doing fantastic work, serving as an education hub for around 40 villages. Besides offering primary to higher secondary level schooling, Sevalaya has started a community college, providing skill development programs leading to employment forabout 150 students now. We have offered to support Sevalaya for funding of students for higher education and the community college. Mr Murali’s dream is to create a deemed university so that students of underprivileged families can join their school at the level of KG and go on to complete their Ph.D.

What is unique to Bhumi, an NGO based in Chennai is their army of a hundred coordinators plus 1500 volunteers who offer gap education to students at shelters and community centres.

4. Plans for the next six months

We intend to return to Gurgaon in mid February and focus on getting our 12A and 80G cleared by the IT department. After getting the clearances, the intent is to cover the north eastern states of India such as Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

5. New Bank Account opening – views: Basis feedback from Shanthi Iyer, we met with an official of Kotak Bank in Chennai. He was of the view that reducing the minimum balance of the account may be difficult but the account can be converted into a current account plus fixed deposit where the funds beyond the minimum balance will be swept into an FD.

6. Application Development: slow progress as the developer’s father is not well.

Next steps

1. Reach out to PM Modi directly reg 12A and 80G if there is delay beyond March 31, 2016 in getting the clearances – we have reached out already as of Jan 28th. 

2. Plan for coverage of North East states post regulatory clearances

3. Plan and reach out to Corporate clients for funding after getting 12A and 80G

4. Cover some districts in Haryana while we are in Gurgaon.

5. ShikshaDaan update meetings to be held on the third Saturday that follows the end of the previous quarter.