The Constitution -Rules and Bylaws

The Constitution

In 1942, with Dr G.S. Cheema as President, two Vice Presidents as Sardar Bahadur Lal Singh and Mr. S. Percy-Lancaster and Mr. K.C. Naik, as Secretary, the initial Rules and Constitution of the Society were formulated. Later, it was due to the untiring efforts of Mr. S.L. Katyal, the then Sub-Editor, HSI, who gathered all the documents, completed all codal formalities required to be submitted for registration of the Society. The first formal draft of constitution of the Horticultural Society of India was crafted after seeking help from the Executive Council members (1949-50). Since Mr. Katyal was located at ICAR, New Delhi, he took advantage of collecting drafts of the different scientific societies formed during 1940s and seeking guidance of Dr Sham Singh, the then President, HSI to finalize and submit the proposal. The 41 point constitution draft was got approved in the annual meeting of the society and the same was filed for registration to the Office of Registrar, Joint Stock Companies, Delhi. Mr. Katyal contributed a lot in organizing the activities of the Society by drafting its constitution, executing the rules and procedures as laid out in the same for functioning and holding annual meetings and events.

In 2004, the Constitution of the Society was again revamped, under the overall guidance of Dr K.L. Chadha, President of the Horticultural Society of India, Dr V.B. Patel, the then Joint Secretary of the Society collected the rules and constitutions of different scientific Societies and Academies located in Delhi. A draft constitution was prepared with the help of a consultant taking advantages of various initiatives taken by different professional agricultural societies and academies existing in India. The major amendments proposed for addition in the revised Constitution were: Induction of Fellows (Rule No. IV)i. Increase in the number of office bearers, i.e. Vice Presidents from 2 to 4 and Executive Councillor from 12 to 18ii. Change in post of Assistant Secretary to Joint Secretary. The same was discussed in the Executive Council meeting held on 30.08.2003 at Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow and adopted w.e.f. 01.01.2004. However, while completing the election process for the second Executive Council starting 2005, certain anomalies were pointed out. Accordingly, a committee under the Chairmanship of Dr Kirti Singh, the then Vice President was constituted to look into out the anamolies and gave the following recommendations which were adopted by the AGM held on April 19, 2007. Further, few modifications were also made during the AGM held at Bihar Agriculture University, Sabour on May 26, 2013. The details of amendments made are given in Table 1.During the AGM held at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana on 05.11.2012, it was suggested that an updated and revised Constitution of the Society needs to be printed as a booklet after incorporation of various amendments in respect of different items approved and adopted in all the previous EC/ AGM meetings of HSI held after implementation of the new Constitution during 2004. It was agreed to amend the criteria for becoming eligible to be elected/ nominated for different port folios of the Society (Table 2).It was also decided that to avoid gender bias, the President, HSI may nominate for a year in Executive Council a female member/ Fellow meeting all the criteria. It was agreed that the same be nominated from 2014 onwards for a term of 1-3 year. All the changes and revisions in the Rules and Bye-laws of the Society were got approved in the Annual General Body Meetings and were submitted to the Registrar of Societies, New Delhi for information and record. The constitution was further amended to upgrade the Society to The Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences

The constitution of the Academy containing rules and bylaws are given below

Name and Location
- The name of the Society shall be “INDIAN ACADEMY OF HORTICULTURAL SCIENCES (IAHS)” w.e.f. 01.01.2019.
- The Registered office of the Academy shall be situated in the Union Territory of Delhi. Presently, the Academy is located in the F-1, National Societies Block, NASC Complex, Dev Prakash Shastri Marg, Pusa Campus, New Delhi 110 012, India.
Aims and Objectives

The aims and objectives of the Academy are:

to promote education, research and development of Horticulture and Allied Sciences,
to recognize and support excellence in research and development in the field of Horticulture by individual scientists, inter-disciplinary teams, recognized institutions, learned societies and industry,
to promote contact and co-operate among R & D personnel working in different institutions and areas (including farmers and industry),
to bring out regularly the Indian Journal of Horticulture and any other publication brought out by the Academy,
to disseminate knowledge on all Horticultural Sciences and their different aspects by holding horticultural congresses, seminars, symposia, conferences, expert consultations, brainstorming etc. and publishing their proceedings,
to secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of Horticulture Sciences in all its aspects, and
to undertake any other activity relevant to accomplish the above objectives.

Membership
- Categories and criteria for admission

The Academy consists of the following categories of members with qualifying criteria indicated against each.

Life Membership

Individual residing in India or outside interested in promotion of Horticultural Sciences and Allied Sciences with a life membership fee as determined by Executive Council from time to time.

Patron/Corporate Member

Any individual/institution/organization residing in India or outside interested in promotion of Horticultural and Allied Sciences with a fee as determined by Executive Council from time to time. A Patron except institutions/organizations enjoys the rights and privileges of a Life Member of the Academy except voting rights.

Subscriber

Any institution/organization residing in India or outside interested in promotion of Horticultural and Allied Sciences with a subscription fee for Indian Journal of Horticulture as determined by Executive Council from time to time

Rights and Privileges of Member

The rights and privileges of various categories of Members will be as follows:

Life Member:
Will receive all the issues of the Indian Journal of Horticulture (hard/soft copy) during his life time or a period as decided by the Executive Council.
Will participate and vote in the meeting of the General Body.
Will be eligible to be nominated for election as a Fellow after five years of continuous Life Membership.
Patron/ Corporate Member:

While individuals shall have all the rights of a life member except voting rights, the institution/ organization shall enjoy such rights for 15 years only without any voting rights.
such other rights as may be decided by the Executive Council based on the nature of their contribution and support to the Academy’s activities.
Will receive intimation about all scientific events organized by the Academy.
Will receive copies of the Indian Journal of Horticulture (hard/soft copy) for life time or a period as decided by the Executive Council.

Subscriber will be entitled to:
receive all the issues of the Indian Journal of Horticulture (hard/ soft copy) for the year of their subscription.
- Cessation of Membership
A Member may withdraw from the Academy by indicating in writing his/ her desire to do so; however, the Academy shall not refund any fee or subscription that the Member may have paid.
If any Member of the Academy willfully disobeys rules or orders of the authorities of the Academy or commits willful breach of orders or does anything against the interests of the Academy, his/her name shall be removed on the recommendations of the Disciplinary Committee constituted by the President/ Executive Council. Such decision can, however, be reviewed on appeal by the Executive Council.
If any member is adjudged by any court of law to be a criminal offender, the Executive Council may terminate his/her membership permanently under intimation to the General Body.

AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
- Awards:

The Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences has initiated several awards for recognizing the individuals /institutions/organizations, which have made significant contributions and displayed leadership in any field of Horticulture.

The Executive Council of Academy may accept and designate/ rename any award/ induct new awards keeping in view the relevance to the Academy, which would have to be approved by the Executive Council for implementation.

Fellowships

The Academy shall have the following type of Fellows:

Elected Fellow

Fellow shall be elected from among those who have been Life Members of the Academy for at least 5 years. Nominations for fellowship shall be made by the existing Fellows of the Academy. A Fellow shall make no more than two nominations in a year. Nominations will remain valid for a period of 3 years. Fellows will be inducted after evaluation of their contributions as per guidelines prescribed by the Executive Council.

Foreign Fellow

This fellowship is to induct Scientists working abroad and who have contributed significantly in Research and Development in any sub-discipline of Horticulture and allied areas relevant to Indian horticulture. The nomination (s) for the same are invited and finally approved by the Executive Council only. A maximum of 2 fellows per year will be inducted. The fellow who is elected in this category will have to pay the prescribed fee.

Honorary Fellow

This fellowship is open to individual other than the Life members of the Society associated with Education, Research & Development organization, NGO, private sector, industry, Self Help Group, Farmers’ Cooperative, progressive farmer etc. who has significantly contributed towards the promotion of horticultural research and development in the country. The Executive Council members will identify and nominate the Fellows.

Corporate Fellow

This Fellowship is open to any Industry/ Organization/related to horticulture business. The company / organization can become a Corporate Fellow by paying a prescribed fee as decided by Executive Council. The nomination can be received any time during the year.

General Rules

The maximum number of Fellows at any time shall not exceed 20% of total life members. Each year a maximum of 15 Fellows (including recipients of the awards made by the Indian Academy of Horticultural Sciences) may be selected from among various sub-disciplines in Horticultural and Allied Sciences.
The Executive Council of the Academy may, from time to time, alter the number and types of categories of Fellowship as well as the criteria of admission.
The members upon induction to the Fellowship shall pay the prescribed fee as decided by Executive Council.
A Fellow shall sign in the Fellowship register of the Academy for record after conferment of the same. In case of conferment of Fellowship in absentia, a fellow has also to sign the Fellowship register.

Authorities of the Academy
- The authorities of the Academy shall be

General Body
Executive Council
Any other body so constituted by the Executive Council
- General Body
  - The General Body shall consist of only the Life Members.

The General Body shall be the supreme authority of the Academy in respect of all its activities. It shall formulate/amend/approve all rules & programmes in conformity with the bylaws and constitution.

The General Body shall transact the following business:

Consideration of Annual Reports.
Consideration of Balance Sheet and Audited Accounts of the outgoing year.
Approval of Auditors and fixing their remuneration for each year.
Consideration, if any, of proposals of amendments to Rules and Constitution.
Any other item(s) suggested by Executive Council for consideration.
- Meetings of the General Body
The General Body shall be called by the President of the Academy once every year after giving at least 21 days notice of the date, time, place and the general nature of business to be transacted at such meetings. A notice will be deemed to be duly served upon any member of the General Body if it is sent to him / her by post/email at the address shown in the roll of members.
The meeting of the General Body shall be organized every year, preferably on the Foundation day of the Academy and shall be chaired by the President. In his absence, the senior most Vice-President of the Executive Council present in the meeting shall preside.
One-tenth of the total members on roll shall form a quorum at every meeting of the General Body. If the meeting is adjourned for the want of quorum, it may be reconvened after sometime. No quorum will be required at such a reconvened meeting to conduct the proceedings.
All questions at meeting of the General Body, including matters having major financial implications, shall be determined by a majority vote.
Each life member (having voting right) shall have one vote. In the event of any equality of votes, the President will have a casting vote.
Extra-ordinary or special meeting of the General Body may be convened by the President as and when deemed necessary.
Executive Council
- The affairs of the Academy shall be managed, administered and directed in accordance with the Rules and Constitution of the Academy by the Executive Council. The Composition of the Executive Council shall consist of 19 members as indicated below.
- Composition: The Executive Council shall consist of 19 members as indicated below:

President	1
Immediate Past President	1
Vice-Presidents	2
Secretary	1
Editor-in-Chief	1
Treasurer	1
Executive Councillors
a) Elected	9
b) Nominated by Executive Council/ President	3
Total	19

Rules for Appointment:
The election shall be held every year for one third of posts in each group. There will be four groups, one covering the position of President and two Vice-Presidents and second covering the post of Secretary, Treasurer and Editor-in-Chief third 9 Councilors elected and fourth 3 councilors nominated. Each year one post from each of four groups shall be filled by election except post of the President, which shall be elected directly the Executive Council.
The President, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor-in-Chief shall be elected from among Fellows of the Academy located at the Head quarter of the Academy.
The President may nominate one Joint Secretary and 2 Editors from among the Fellows (residing at Headquarter) for proper functioning of Secretariat and Editorial work of the Academy.
Other Appointments

Technical/supporting personnel shall be hired in the office of the Academy on suitable honorarium, as and when required.

Transitory provision for casual vacancies: The Executive Council shall nominate an eligible Member to fill up a casual vacancy (for the unexpired term) or extend the term of an existing Member to effectively implement the provision of one-third retirement.
Election and its Mode:

Prior to the election, the Secretary shall invite nominations from all Life Members for filling up vacancies in the Executive Council. Eligibility of these nominations shall be considered by the Secretariat and these will be circulated among the persons nominated for their acceptance or otherwise to contest the election.
During election (at the time, of voting in EC) any member who has been nominated for any position will not be present.
The names of the candidates willing to contest shall be considered by the council for election for ensuing year. These names shall be sent by post by the Elections Officer nominated by the EC/President as ballot to all the Fellows of the Academy. Members of the council shall be elected by the fellows through postal ballot and minimum 60% of the polled votes will be required for being elected.
The same result shall be presented by Election Officer in the President/ EC meeting for Concurrence and declaration.
Eligibility

The minimum eligibility to be elected/ nominated for different positions of the Executive Council would be as follows:

Position(s)	Minimum eligibility
President/ Vice president/Secretary/ Editor-in-Chief	Candidates must have been an Executive Member of the Academy for minimum one term.
Treasurer	May be elected, from among the Fellows of the Academy.
Executive Councillor	An IAHS Fellow will be eligible to become a member of the Executive Council only after one year of conferment of the Fellowship.
Nominated EC Members	President, IAHS may also nominate one EC member (every year) from among the fellows of the Academy.
Editors/Joint Secretary	May be nominated by the President, IAHS from among the Fellows of the Academy residing at the Head Quarters of the Academy

Meetings of the Executive Council
The Council shall meet at least once in six months. The meeting shall be convened by the President on his/ her own accord or on the requisition of eight council members specifying the subject matter to be considered. On the receipt of such requisition, the President shall call a meeting to be convened within two months of the requisition to consider only the subject so specified by giving sufficient notice.
The President of the Council shall preside over such meetings of the Council. In his/ her absence, the Senior Vice-President; and in his/her absence one of the Vice-Presidents of the Council shall preside over the meeting.
One-third of the members of the Executive Council shall constitute the quorum provided that if the meeting is adjourned for want of quorum the subsequent meetings called on the basis of same agenda will not require having the prescribed quorum.
The President of the Academy shall have powers to invite any other person(s) to attend meeting of the Executive Council as Special Invitee(s). However, such person(s) shall not be entitled to vote at the meetings.
All disputed questions/ issues at the meetings of the Council shall be determined by vote. In the case of equality of votes, the President shall have a casting vote.
Any business, which may be necessary for the Council to perform, shall be carried out by circulation among all the members of the Council and approval by signature of majority of members shall be effective and binding as if such a resolution had been passed at the meeting of the Council provided that at least the number of members constituting quorum record their views on the Resolution.

Powers / Duties / Functions of the Executive Council

It shall be the function of the Council generally to carry out the object was of the Academy as set forth in these Rules. The Council shall be responsible for the management of all the affairs and funds of the Academy and shall have authority to exercise all the powers of the Academy. The Council shall perform the following tasks in a manner consistent with the aims and objects of the Academy:

to prepare and execute detailed plans, projects and programmes for the administration and management of the Academy;
to enter into arrangements with the Government of India, State Governments and other public or private organizations or individuals for receiving and accepting endowments, grants-in-aid, donations or gifts if any;
to prepare the budget estimates and to sanction the expenditure thereof;
to advice regarding course curriculae for UG/PG education training and research in Horticulture and Allied Sciences;
to institute and award Fellowships, Prizes, Medals, Scholarships etc;
to constitute Sectional Committees, Editorial Boards, Financial and other Committees, Sub-Committees etc. for carrying out the object was of the Academy;
to take over and acquire by purchase, gifts or otherwise from Government and other public bodies or private individuals willing to transfer movable and immovable properties, endowments or other funds together with any attendant obligations and engagements;
to delegate to such extent as it may deem necessary, any of its powers to any person, office or committee of the Academy;
to retain or employ professional or technical advisers, consultants or workers to further the objects of the Academy and to pay such honorarium, fees or remuneration as may be considered adequate and to arrange, wherever necessary for their training in India and abroad;
to create technical, administrative, ministerial and other posts under the Academy to make appointment thereto and to prescribe for them terms and conditions of appointment, emoluments, allowances, rules and the conditions of the service of the employee of the Academy including matters relating to scale of pay and allowances;
to execute contracts including the investment of funds of the Academy and the sale or alteration of such investments;
to invest the money of the Academy in any securities as authorized under the Indian Income Tax Act 1961 applicable to Trusts and Charitable institutions;
to establish a provident fund;
to impose and recover affiliation and other fees and charges for services rendered;
to sell, mortgage, lease, exchange gift(s) and otherwise transfer or dispose-off all or any movable or immovable Property; and
to perform such other functions and to carry out such duties as may from time to time be assigned to it.

Office Bearers- their Powers and Functions

6.1. President: The President of the Academy shall:

guide and supervise various activities of the Academy. He/ she shall preside over the meeting of the Executive Council and the General Body meeting,
represent the Academy on all ceremonial occasions,
exercise, in case of emergency, all the powers and perform all the functions of the Executive Council prescribed under the Rules and Constitution provided that all such action shall be placed before the next meeting of the Executive Council for ratification,
hold any meeting of the Local Office bearers of the Academy to discuss issues of emergent nature requiring immediate attention, contingent purchases, financial payments, etc. The action taken in this regards have to be informed in the succeeding Executive Council meeting as 7.1 (c).

6.2. Vice-President: The Vice-President shall assist the President in carrying out any function assigned by him/ her or the Executive Council.

6.3. Secretary: The Secretary shall have the following functions and powers:

exercise, in accordance with the decisions and guidelines of the Executive Council, general supervision over the affairs of the Academy,
assist the President in the different activities of the Academy,
call meetings in accordance with the rules of the Academy,
prepare and keep minutes of all the meetings,
prepare and maintain a correct and up-to-date record of the members/ Subscribers of the Academy,
conduct general correspondence of the Academy, and
maintain the various records of the Academy.

6.4. Joint Secretary: The President shall nominate a Joint Secretary who will assist the President and Secretary in performing the functions of the Academy. Joint Secretary will have the following functions;

In event of absence of the Secretary, Joint Secretary would be responsible for initiating activities for holding Academy meetings and other activities of Secretariat.
Ensuring timely dispatch of proceedings of different meetings to EC Members/ Life members and dispatch of journal and other publications.

6.5. Treasurer: The Treasurer shall have the following functions:

Prepare annual budget proposal for managing Academy’s activities for approval of the Executive Council/ President
arrange for dispatch of audited certificates to agencies providing financial assistance,
shall correspond on subscription of the journal and related matters, deposit all the money received in the Academy’s Bank account,
proposals of any MoU having financial aspects related to subscription and sale of publications
proactively, managing Academy’s accounts
timely settlements of pending bills, rents, payments etc.
Responsible for the collection of all dues of the Academy and shall keep true and accurate accounts of all its receipts & expenditure and all assets & liabilities through annual auditing,
annual filing of TDS and Income Tax returns of the Academy’s accounts

6.6. Editor-in-Chief: The Editor-in- Chief shall have the following functions:

Timely publication of the Journal and other publications, proper scrutiny of manuscripts and maintenance of high standards of Society’s publications.
shall be responsible for timely dispatch of the journals to sponsoring agencies providing financial assistance, and different abstracting agencies; and agencies/ academies for grant for grant of rating/ impact factor. Dispatch of publications to speakers, chair, co-chairman of different events organized by the Academy from time to time.
Would propose for formation of National Editorial Board for approval by the President out of the Fellows/ Life members of the Academy or even eminent scientists from the allied disciplines.
ensuring publication of acknowledgements on financial assistance received for printing of the journal and the experts for rendering their assistance in review of articles.
seeking final approval of President in event of dispute on fitness of any article for publication.

6.7. Editors The Editors shall assist the Editor-in-Chief in discharging his functions, and shall be responsible for;

timely dispatch of acknowledgement(s) and conduct timely review of articles submitted as hard/ soft copies as per the approved procedures of the Academy.
technical editing of reviewed articles to be sent for revision; tracking action on articles under review, and
replying general queries made by author(s) on article(s) submitted to the Secretariat.

Finances, Budget and Audit

7.1. The funds of the Academy shall consist of:

grants from Government of India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, State Governments and other institutions and agencies,
donations and contributions from individuals, institutions or other sources, and
Receipts from Academy’s

7.2 The financial year of the Academy shall be from April 1^st to March 31^st of the subsequent year.

7.3 The Bankers of the Academy shall be any of the nationalized banks as approved by the Executive Council. All the receipts shall be paid into the Academy Bank account and shall be withdrawn only by a cheque or authorization signed by any two of the following office bearers, i.e., the President, Senior Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer or a nominated local office bearer for the expenditure nominated by the President.

7.4 The Academy shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts including the Balance Sheet and Income and Expenditure account in such form as may be prescribed by the Executive Council.

7.5 All the expenditure from the Academy funds shall be incurred solely for promotion of the aims and object of the Academy and not paid directly or indirectly by way of dividends, bonus or profit to any member.

7.6 The funds of the Academy may be invested as may be decided by the Executive Council in a manner permissible for investments as charitable institutions under the provision of Indian Income Tax Act 1961.

7.7. All the property, movable and immovable acquired by the Academy shall be vested in the Executive Council and in all proceedings (civil and criminal) it shall be described as property of the Academy.

7.8. The Accounts of the Academy shall be audited annually by a Chartered Accountant appointed by the Executive Council with the approval of the General Body. The audited statements shall be submitted to the Executive Council, which will present with its recommendations, to the Annual General Body for adoption. The Auditors shall have the right to demand production of necessary books of accounts, vouchers and any other related documents.

Legal Proceedings

The Academy may sue or be sued in the name of the President / Secretary as per Section 6 of the Societies Registration Act of 1860. All contracts shall be executed on behalf of the Academy by an officer of the Academy authorized by the Executive Council. Jurisdiction for all the legal cases will be head Quarter of the Academy i.e. Delhi.

Alternation and AMENDMENT OF Rules and Constitution of the Academy

9.1. The Academy may alter or add or extend the purpose for which it is established in accordance with the procedure under section 12/12A of the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

9.2 The Academy shall have the powers to make, repeal, alter, amend or vary its rules and regulations for the administration and management of the affairs of the Academy and for the furtherance of the objective as per procedures under section 12/12A of the Societies Registration Act 1860.

9.3 Such amendments and alternations shall come into force after being passed by the General Body of the Academy.

ByE-laws of the Academy

The Academy shall have powers to frame, amend or repeal any bye-laws for the furtherance of its objectives and in particular to provide for the following matters:

relating to admission, election of members and membership fees.
relating to appointment, removal and resignation of the office-bearers of the Executive Council other than the President.
preparation and submission of budget estimates, the sanction of expenditure, disposal of assets or alterations of investments.
Conduct of business of boards, committees and sub-committees as may be constituted from time to time, determining the powers, functions of such committees, their constitution and terms of office of the members.
Procedure for terms and tenure of appointments, emoluments, allowances, rules of discipline and other conditions of service of the staff of the Academy both regular and on contract.
Such other matters as may be necessary for the administration of the affairs of the Academy.