BY-LAWS As Amended by General Body at the AGM of November 21, 2020
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Dedicated to the Visionary of the IITs - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Constitution Committee 2004:
Surinder Sharma (Chair) – IIT Delhi Rabiz Foda – IIT Bombay Dr. Mitali De – IIT Madras Dr. Suraj Rana – IIT Delhi Ujjal Mondal – IIT Kharagpur Saleem Moledina – IIT Kanpur Ajoy Pal – IIT Kharagpur
By-laws amendments 2020:
Board of Directors 2019-2020 Vishwas Dhekney - VP Admin Ashraf Ali - President
www.iitalumnicanada.com
2 List of IITs as of November 2020 Name Abbreviation Founded Established as IIT State/UT
IIT Kharagpur IITKGP 1951 West Bengal
IIT Bombay IITB 1958 Maharashtra
IIT Madras IITM 1959 Tamil Nadu
IIT Kanpur IITK 1959 Uttar Pradesh
IIT Delhi IITD 1961 Delhi
IIT Guwahati IITG 1994 Assam
IIT Roorkee IITR 1847 2001 Uttarakhand
IIT Ropar IITRPR 2008 Punjab
IIT Bhubaneswar IITBBS 2008 Odisha
IIT Gandhinagar IITGN 2008 Gujarat
IIT Hyderabad IITH 2008 Telangana
IIT Jodhpur IITJ 2008 Rajasthan
IIT Patna IITP 2008 Bihar
IIT Indore IITI 2009 Madhya Pradesh
IIT Mandi IITMandi 2009 Himachal Pradesh
IIT (BHU) Varanasi IIT (BHU) 1919 2012 Uttar Pradesh
IIT Palakkad IITPKD 2015 Kerala
IIT Tirupati IITTP 2015 Andhra Pradesh
IIT (ISM) Dhanbad IIT (ISM) 1926 2016 Jharkhand
IIT Bhilai IITBH 2016 Chhattisgarh
IIT Jammu IITJMU 2016 Jammu and Kashmir
IIT Goa IITGOA 2016 Goa
IIT Dharwad IITDH 2016 Karnataka
3 About IIT- Overview & History Established in 1950, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), has become synonymous with excellence in technology and engineering education in India. IIT offers undergraduate, integrated postgraduate and postgraduate programs in various engineering, science, technology and management disciplines.
Admission to these programs is through national level entrance examinations. Apart from the world-class facility and quality of education, diversity of students in terms of socio-economic background, culture, language and religions, gives a unique advantage to IITians - the ability to manage, and thrive on, diversity in the fast globalizing economy.
In 1946, a committee was setup to explore setting up technical institutes of higher education for post-war industrial development of India and based on recommendation of the Sarkar Committee, the first Indian Institute of Technology was born in May 1950 in Kharagpur, West Bengal. Four other campuses were subsequently founded at Bombay (1958), Madras (1959), Kanpur (1960) and Delhi (1961). In 1995, a sixth campus at Guwahati was added and most recently in 2001, a seventh campus was established by upgrading Roorkee University, one of India's oldest engineering institutions, into an IIT.
Today, IIT offers undergraduate, integrated postgraduate and postgraduate degrees in over 25 different engineering, technology and business/management disciplines.
The IIT Alumni Canada was conceived in the late 1970’s by IITians from Kharagpur. The association has come a long way since then and the body added members from all the IITs in early 1990’s. IITAC has a roster of over 350 members and their families. Today, it is part of the Pan-IIT Organization and playing a role in building the IIT brand image and raising the profile of Indo-Canadian professionals.
The By-laws of IITAC will provide the working guidelines for this growing body.
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INDIAN INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI CANADA TABLE OF CONTENTS
Article # Article Description Page #
1. NAME AND LOCATION 6
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 6
3. MEMBERSHIP 7
4. ORGANIZATION 8
5. GENERAL BODY 9
6. BOARD OF DIRECTORS 10
7. OFFICE BEARERS 11
8. ADVISORY COUNCIL 13
9. PRESIDENTS COUNCIL 13
10. FINANCE 14
11. AMENDMENTS 14
12. ACTIVATE 15
13. ADOPTATION OF BY-LAWS 15
14. DISSOLUTION 15
15. REGIONAL CHAPTERS 16
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--- BY-LAWS ---
INDIAN INSTITUTES OF TECHNOLOGY ALUMNI CANADA
ARTICLE 1: NAME AND LOCATION i. Name: The organization shall be called "Indian Institutes of Technology Alumni Canada”,
hereinafter referred to as “IITAC”. ii. Organization: IITAC is a non-profit organization in Canada for the Alumni of the Indian
Institutes of Technology, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras, Guwahati, Roorkee,
Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Patna, Ropar, Indore, Mandi, (BHU)
Varanasi, Palakkad, Tirupati, (ISM) Dhanbad, Bhilai, Goa, Jammu and Dharwad. Any additional
institution created or re-designated as an IIT by the Govt. of India will be considered as part of
the above list. iii. Location: The central office of IITAC shall be located at the residence of the Vice President -
Administration or any other place decided by the Board.
ARTICLE 2: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
a. To help, support, promote and foster a sense of community, loyalty, fellowship, fraternalism,
partnership and professionalism among the Alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology
(IITians) living in Canada.
b. To support and facilitate settlement of Alumni in Canada in a sustainable environment.
c. To advocate the quality and professional standards of IITs, IITians in the Canadian Society
through programs, activities and events of educational, social, charitable, cultural,
recreational, sporting and professional nature involving IITians and their families.
d. To establish and maintain close relationship with IITs, IIT Alumni Chapters and other
organizations that have synergies of interests.
e. To raise and manage funds to meet the aims and objectives. 6 ARTICLE 3: MEMBERSHIP
1. Type of Membership:
a. Member: Any individual, living in Canada, who has completed a degree/diploma/doctorate from any of the IITs.
b. Any current or ex-member of the faculty of the IITs, who resides in Canada, on the
recommendation of the Board, is qualified to become member in the same manner as noted
in Article (3.1.a).
c. Associate Member: This category deleted.
d. Honorary Members: Any person by virtue of professional eminence or of special meritorious
service to the engineering profession or any individual whose services the IITAC may desire to
recognize. The IITAC Board with a 2/3 majority will invite such members to join for a term of
5 years.
e. Life Member: Any “Member” can opt to be a Life Member by paying the appropriate fees in
force at that time.
2. Membership: a. An IITian can apply for membership and he/she is termed in “good standing” after the
appropriate fees in force are paid for the year. The application must be supported by two
references who are IITians and approved by the Board. b. Only Members in “good standing” and Life Members shall have the right to vote and hold
office and avail of other benefits e.g. discounts at IITAC Paid events that will be decided
by the IITAC Board from time to time. c. The Board of Directors have the right to terminate or expel a Member if the Board is
satisfied that the Member has been working against the interests of IITAC/profession,
indulging in misconduct, unlawful activities or any reason as determined by the Board.
3. Membership Fee:
a. The annual membership fees will be set by the General Body of IITAC from time to
time upon the recommendations of the Board.
7 b. A member could opt for life membership by making one time payment of ten times
the annual fee applicable at that time.
c. The membership fee is due at the time of joining. Subsequently, annual dues are
payable on 1st January of each year except for the life members who pay only once at
the time of becoming a life member of IITAC. A one time waiver of Annual Dues will
apply to all new IIT Alumni (immigrant or student) for the first year in Canada unless
they volunteer to pay the fees.
4. Communication with Membership:
The IITAC will use its web site and other electronic means as the primary method of
communication. All Members, Life Members, Associate Members and Honorary Members in
good standing are entitled to receive all announcements about the activities of IITAC, e.g.
the Alumni newsletter, circulars, emails, etc. and also participate in all social functions and
other activities of IITAC. The posting of such announcements on IITAC website shall amount
to such information being received by the members.
The contents of the website shall be approved by the Board and code of conduct for all
electronic communication shall be observed.
ARTICLE 4: ORGANIZATION
The following shall be the authorities for IITAC: a. General Body b. Board of Directors c. Office Bearers d. Advisory Council e. Presidents Council
8 ARTICLE 5: GENERAL BODY a. General Body shall consist of all Members and Life Members who are in good standing for a
minimum period of 3 months. b. General Body shall consider the President's Annual Report of activities including the approval
of previous year’s accounts, budget and plan of activities for the next year, election of
Members to the Board, appointment of the auditors, legal advisors and any other matters
arising from time to time. c. General Body shall meet once a year at the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) in the last
quarter of each calendar year unless the change is notified to the members in advance. The
agenda, place and date of the meeting shall be circulated at least two weeks in advance. The
AGM shall statutorily consider the following:
(i) Approval of previous year's minutes of AGM.
(ii) Introduction of Board of Directors.
(iii) Election of the new Members to the Board to fill vacancies arising due to completion
of term of the present Board Members.
(iv) Annual Report of the Board and statement of accounts.
(v) Proposed calendar of activities for the year.
(vi) Appointment of Auditors (Internal/ External).
(vii) Appointment of legal advisors, if any.
(viii) Other business as recommended by the Board. d. The Vice President - Administration shall, upon receiving a request in writing by the Board or
by at least 20 Members in good standing shall call an extraordinary General Body meeting for
which at least 2 weeks notice along with agenda shall be circulated to the Members using a
prevalent efficient means of communication. e. The quorum for the General Body meeting, which shall be the sum of members present in
person and attending remotely, shall be 30 members. The meeting will be postponed to
an alternative date if the quorum is not achieved.
9 f. All resolutions put to vote at the General Body shall be decided by a majority vote. In case of
equality of votes the 'Presiding Officer' shall have the casting vote. g. The President or in his/ her absence the Vice President – Administration or any other Officer
appointed by the Board shall be the returning officer for the elections.
ARTICLE 6: BOARD OF DIRECTORS a. The affairs of IITAC shall be managed and the funds administered by the Board of Directors,
which shall consist of the following members:
(i) Twelve (12) Members/ Life Members to be elected by the General Body to the post of
Directors.
(ii) The Immediate Past President shall be an ex-officio member of the Board for one
more year. b. The term of office of the Board will be for two consecutive calendar years (Jan-Dec). A
Member can be re-elected to the Board, if she/ he so wishes. c. Members holding any position in IITAC shall remain in good standing and meet the following
criteria:
Demonstrated involvement in organizational activities.
A Member in good standing for atleast two consecutive years immediately prior to election as Board Member.
Attended programs regularly (atleast two in a year).
Shows positive commitment and will bring value to IITAC.
d. The election process shall be carried out by an Election Officer, appointed by the Board. The
Election Officer will not be a prospective candidate in the election process.
10 e. The Board shall have the right to co-opt volunteer members and /or appoint sub-committees
from amongst the General Body from time to time for execution of specific assignments, as
required. f. The President in consultation with the Board members allocates the portfolios of the other
elected Directors for the year. g. Any casual vacancy amongst the members of the Board arising from death, resignation,
removal or otherwise, shall be filled by temporary appointment by co-option by the Board and
the member so co-opted shall hold office till the next Annual General Body meeting and shall
be treated at par and have all the rights as enjoyed by the elected members. h. The quorum for the meeting of the Board shall be 50% of Members on the register and
personally present. i. The Board shall manage the affairs of IITAC by a majority vote in the Board meetings. Incase
of equality of votes, the President shall have the casting vote. j. The Board shall meet at least four times a year. The Vice President - Administration shall
issue the notice and the agenda of the meeting at least a week before the date fixed for the
meeting by electronic mail. However, in case of urgent business, the meeting may be called
at a shorter notice. k. The property, movable and immovable, belonging to IITAC shall be vested with the Board. l. The Board may terminate the membership of any of its Members, in case he/she fails to
attend three consecutive Board meetings without a leave of absence. However, the President
may grant leave of absence to any Member in special circumstances.
ARTICLE 7: OFFICE BEARERS a. The term of office for all Office Bearers shall be for a period of one (1) year. However, any
person may be re-elected to hold the same office up to a maximum of two (2) consecutive
terms. A person can also be elected after a break of one year.
11 b. The Office Bearers of the Board:
(i) The President, Vice President - IFI (IITians for IITians), Vice President - Administration
and Vice President - Finance shall be elected by a majority vote of the Board of
Directors.
(ii) The President shall be the executive head and carry out the following activities:
Coordination of the activities of the other Directors and VPs.
Appointment of all the sub-committees, which are to serve during his term of office.
Appoint ad hoc committees to address short-term needs and issues.
Preside over the Board/ General Body Meetings.
Call special Board meetings at the request of not less than four Directors or
whenever deemed necessary.
Public and Media Relations on behalf of IITAC.
(iii) One of the Vice Presidents as decided by the Board will perform the duties/ preside over
the meetings in the absence of the President.
(iv) The Vice President - Administration shall perform the following duties:
Keep the Minutes of all meetings of the General Body and the Board.
Carry out the directions of the General Body and the Board of Directors.
Conduct correspondence on behalf of IITAC.
Give notice of all meetings of the General Body and the Board.
Exercise administrative control over the Office of IITAC in Canada.
The Vice President - Administration shall work in close collaboration with the
President in carrying the executive functions of the Organization.
(v) The Vice President - Finance shall perform the following duties:
Accountable for all IITAC financial matters.
Keep the books of accounts, prepare year end financial statement and report on
accounting matters at each Board meeting.
He/ she shall collect all dues and claims on behalf of IITAC
12 Coordinate with the President in ensuring that budgetary controls are exercised.
Liaise with the Bankers and the Auditors.
(vi) The Vice President – IFI shall perform the following duties:
Plan and execute the service oriented programs by IITians for IITians (IFI) in
coordination with the President and Board.
The focus would be the Mentee-Mentor program to guide and facilitate settlement
of new Alumni in Canada in a sustainable environment.
Organize information workshops and connections to help job search.
(vii) If a vacancy arises in the office of the President/ Vice Presidents, the Board of Directors
shall elect from amongst its own Members who will hold office till the next term.
(viii) The President or in his/ her absence the Vice President – Administration or any Officer
decided by the Board shall be the returning officer for the Board elections.
ARTICLE 8: ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Board will appoint members of the Advisory Council. The Advisory Council Members are eminent and successful IITians who help lift the profile of IITAC through advice and professional contacts. They may or may not meet every year but the Board will remain in touch with them to seek their help in raising the brand image of IITs.
ARTICLE 9: PRESIDENTS COUNCIL
President’s Council will constitute all Past Presidents of IITAC. Due to their valuable experience, their services would be an asset and used by the Board as and when required to organize events or any special projects or seek advice/ assistance. They would be special invitees to the Vision and Strategy meeting of the Board at the start of the term.
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ARTICLE 10: FINANCE a. The Board of IITAC is authorized to receive funds, donations, sponsorships and financial
assistance from any non-political/ non-partisan source for the furtherance of its aims and
objectives. b. All expenses shall be approved by the Board. In this connection, within 30 days of the Annual
General Body Meeting, a meeting of the Board shall be held in which a presentation of major
activities for the coming year will be discussed and finalized, including budget allocation for
various activities. The responsibility for proper utilization of funds will be that of the Board
collectively. c. All funds received on behalf of IITAC shall be placed in the name of the Indian Institute of
Technology Alumni Canada (IITAC) in an account to be maintained in a bank that shall be
approved by the Board. All cheques shall be signed by Vice President - Finance and any one
of two of President and Vice President – Administration.
ARTICLE 11: AMENDMENTS
Any Article of these By-laws shall be amended by a two-thirds majority of Members in good standing at a General Body Meeting. The quorum for such a meeting shall be 50 members. The proposal to amend the By-laws shall be on the recommendations of the Board or the signed requisition by at least 15 Members. A request for proposed amendments shall be furnished to the
Vice President – Administration who in turn in consultation with the Board shall call for a General
Body Meeting and issue a notice for amendment of at least 40 calendar days in advance of the meeting date. In exceptional circumstances this notice period may be reduced, by a resolution of the board, to a period not less than 21 calendar days. Such a notice shall contain details of the
Articles(s) to be amended, the proposed text of the amendment and an explanation of the amendment. The latter is meant as a guide for any deliberation at the General Body Meeting.
Upon the receipt of a requisition for amendment, the Vice President – Administration shall issue notice, using a prevalent efficient means of communication, to the General Body for such meeting
14 at least 40 days before the scheduled date. In exceptional circumstances this notice period may
be reduced, by a resolution of the board, to a period not less than 21 calendar days. All Members
in good standing shall cast their ballot either in person and/or attending remotely at the General
Body Meeting.
ARTICLE 12: ACTIVATE
If due to any circumstances the Board becomes inactive and no activity/ meetings are held for
twelve (12) months, the Presidents Council of IITAC will get into action to call an emergency
meeting and take steps to activate IITAC.
ARTICLE 13: ADOPTION OF BY-LAWS
These By-laws will be adopted after receiving comments from General Body by placing The
draft copy at the IITAC website for 45 days and then approving by the Board and at the
General Body Meeting.
ARTICLE 14: DISSOLUTION
A proposal for dissolution of IITAC shall be considered at a Special General Body Meeting of the
Members called exclusively for the purpose and shall be determined by a ballot. All Members will
cast their ballot either in person at the General Body Meeting or by mail. IITAC requires that at
least 75% of the Members return their ballots for the voting to be valid.
The quorum for such a special meeting shall be at least 50% of the Members on the register of
IITAC.
The proposal if carried by such a majority shall be required to be confirmed by a like majority and
a like quorum at a subsequent Special General Body meeting, called exclusively for the purpose of
confirmation, to be held not earlier than 60 days from the date of the previous Special General
Body Meeting.
In the event of dissolution, the residual assets of IITAC shall be divided in a proportion equal to the number of Members in good standing from each IIT existing on the date of dissolution and turned
15 over to the IITs as donation. In the event this is not practical, the residual assets shall be turned over to a Charitable Organization in Canada of national repute as determined by the Board.
ARTICLE 15: REGIONAL CHAPTERS
The Board will encourage formation of IIT Alumni Chapters in various parts of Canada
provided it has at least fifteen (15) members interested in forming a chapter. The Board may
nominate a Director to coordinate and nurture the Chapters and may fund the chapters to
support brand building and promoting the nationwide reach of IITAC. Details of the regional
chapter operations will be as defined in the attached document “IITAC Guide Lines for
Regional Chapters” – which may be revised from time to time with IITAC Board approval.
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