MINUTES OF THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL BODY MEETING OF TSEWA  HELD AT 1000 HRS, SUNDAY, 24 JUN 2018 IN AWHO VED VIHAR COMMUNITY HALL, SUBHASH NAGAR, TRIMULGHERRY, SECUNDERABAD

Introduction

The General Secretary called the meeting of AGM at 1000 hrs and found that the quorum is not complete. As per the norm, he adjourned the meeting for 30 minutes. He called the meeting again at 1030 hrs. A total of 72 members were present. He asked the President and Treasurer to take their chairs on the dais.

Two Minute Silence in Memory of (late) Lt Col Latif Vadakkayil. The General Secretary informed about the sudden and untimely demise of Lt Col Latif Vadakayil, Executive Committee member & President Pension Div at Kozhikode, Kerala on 20 May 2018. He briefly gave out the great Service done by Lt Col Latif Vadakkayil (Rtd) to the ESM Community through TSEWA.  He asked all to stand for two minutes in silence and pray for the departed soul to rest in eternal peace.

He then requested the chief Guest Gp Capt MG Nori (Rtd) to come to the dais.  Col MJ Ganapathy (Rtd), a Core Committee member escorted the chief guest to the dais. The General Secretary gave a brief description of all the services rendered by Gp Capt MG Nori (Rtd) to TSEWA in particular and to the entire ESM community in general. Chief Guest was honoured with the presentation of a bouquet.

Address by the Chief Guest

Then, as per tradition, the lamp was lighted to signify dispelling the darkness and bringing brightness not only to the place but also in our minds.

Then the  Chief Guest was requested to address the members. Gp Capt MG Nori (Rtd) praised the selfless service rendered by TSEWA to the ESM family. He appreciated the tireless and consistent service being given by the TSEWA team to the entire ESM fraternity. He said that even though TSEWA is only three years old, the service rendered is much more than any ESM organization. He appreciated the transparent and open book attitude of the office bearers and the utmost honesty displayed by all Officer Bearers of TSEWA. He said TSEWA is doing a wonderful service to all ESMs without any discrimination to caste, colour or creed.

Gen Secy commenced the AGM proceedings. The General Secretary then showed the Agenda for the AGM through MS Power Point slide.

Approval of Minutes of 2^nd AGM Held on 25 Jun 2017. The first point in the Agenda was approval of the Minutes of the last AGM held on 25 Jun 2017. He said all members must have seen the Minutes which have been circulated in Jul 2017 and also put up in TSEWA Blog. If any member has any doubt, he was prepared to clarify the same. Since no doubt was raised, Col MK Veeramani (Rtd) proposed to approve the Minutes. Brig SKS Rana, VSM (Rtd) seconded it.

Then Gen Secy informed about the necessity to amend the Bye Laws  as suggested by Commissioner of Income Tax to get benefit of exemption of payment of Income Tax under Sec 12 (A) of Income Tax Act 1961. The Minutes of the Extra ordinary General Body meeting held on 27 Aug 2017 was also circulated to all and put up in TSEWA Blog. Since there was no doubt, the same minutes was proposed to be approved by Wg Cdr A B Bhushan (Rtd) and the same was seconded by Gp Capt CRR Sastry(Rtd).

Gen Secy said that the financial details for FY 2017 – 18 were uploaded in our TSEWA Blog and was also displayed on the notice board. He said all must have seen the same. Here also he asked if anyone has got any doubt, the same will be clarified. He further stated that Lt Col G Parvathesam (Rtd), Treasurer will make a presentation on the source of income, expenditure incurred, proposed budget for fin yr 2018 – 19. Since no one had any doubt, it was proposed to be approved by Cmde Sudheer Parakala (Rtd) and the same was seconded by Brig Vinayak Ramnarayan, VSM (Rtd).

Appointment of the Chartered Accountant (CA) for the FY 2018 – 19. The next point in the Agenda was appointment of CA for the FY 2018-19. He said that M/S P Sashidhar Reddy & Associates have been doing a wonderful job for the last two years. They are willing to continue at very low remuneration. This was approved by all. As a service to TSEWA, they are charging a very nominal amount, since they know that TSEWA is doing only service to ESMs. The appointment of M/S PS Reddy and Associates for the FY 2018-19, was proposed by Col Ajit Singh Rana (Rtd) and seconded by H/ Capt Joseph(Rtd).

Activities Undertaken in FY 2017 – 18. The Gen Secy explained the important activities undertaken by TSEWA during the last FY 2017 – 18. Firs,t he spoke about the Awareness Camps held at various locations in the country. TSEWA team went to many places in North, West and South India and conducted many Awareness Camps, due to which the ESMs and Family Pensioners in those areas came to know about their actual pension, arrears and other dues. Remedial action was taken immediately there itself by drafting the required letters to the concerned agencies to get their correct dues. This helped many JCOs & OR and Family Pensioners who do not know their rightful entitlements. Due to the Awareness camps, our membership also increased. It was informed that it is always not the same person who goes to all the places, but all the experts in their own field goes to various places. Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd), Cmde Sudheer Parakala (Rtd), Col MK Veeramani (Rtd), Brig SKS Rana (Rtd), Col Ajit Singh Rana (Rtd), Col MJ Ganapathy, Lt Col Latif Vadakkayil (Rtd), Col Raghubir Singh (Rtd), Cmde Kuldip Singh Sandhu (Rtd), Col Srikantha Seshadri (Rtd), Lt Col PN Krishnan (Rtd), H/ Capt B Joseph (Rtd), Hav Harish Chandra Asthana (Rtd), Sgt RR Unni (Rtd) and some more have visited various places to conduct Awareness Camps. Even though TSEWA was started for the two Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, it became Pan India and then Global very fast.

TSEWA Blog (www.tsewa.org). Gen Secy said that TSEWA Blog has become very famous that it has already got more than 7 lakhs hits with in such a short time. He said the entire credit should go to Mrs Rekha Sekhri, wife of Lt Col RR Sekhri who has taken over the complete responsibility of the Blog to include designing, hosting, daily updating etc. All the information about various activities of TSEWA is updated daily by Mrs Rekha Sekhri. All appreciated her good work.

Charitable Activities. Gen Secy gave out the charitable activities undertaken during FY 2017 – 18. He said with Col MK Veeramani as President of Charity Divison and Cmde Sudheer Parakala (Rtd), and H/ Capt Joseph (Rtd) as members, this Division has done a commendable job of finding out the deserving and correct persons for the Charity. During the last FY they have given Rs 8,46,114 to 44 persons all over India. Gen Secy informed detailed presentation on charitable activities of TSEWA shall be given by Col MK Veeramani.

Legal Cases.  Gen Secy appreciated the very good work being done by Brig SKS Rana VSM (Rtd) regarding all the legal Cases being filed in various AFTs and hon’ble Supreme Court. The progress of the legal cases cannot be this much without his unstinted, and timely help. He appreciated the very good work being done by Col Ajit Singh Rana (Rtd) who is ably supporting Brig SKS Rana, VSM (Rtd). With his contacts in Service HQ, he is doing a wonderful job.

Presentation to Retiring Soldiers. Col Srikantha Seshadri and H/ Capt  B Joseph, go every month to MEG & Centre, Bengaluru and give out all the required information to retiring pensioners of Madras Sappers. They cover what a retiring person should know of his entitlements and about ECHS facilities. They also get every month new members for TSEWA from Bengaluru. Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd), President goes to EME Depot Bn, Secunderabad every month and informs all the retiring persons about how to lead life of an Ex-Servicemen. He appreciated the very good work being done by Col KKS Dadwal (Rtd) in Himachal Pradesh. State of HP is badly connected and the villages are far flung with hardly any roads. Still he is doing a commendable job there.

Support to ESMs and Family Pensioners. Same way Hav Harish Asthana, President, TSEWA, UP, JWO Milan Das (Rtd), President, TSEWA, CPENGRAMS Div and Sub KV Subba Rao, President, TSEWA, Coastal A.P etc who are also helping the ESMs selflessly.

Expanded Executive Committee. Gen Secy informed that to have a All India representation in the Executive Committee, it was expanded by inducting four more members, who are actually doing lots of service to TSEWA. They are Brig Vinayak Ramnarayan, VSM (Rtd) Col MK Veeramani (Rtd), H/ Capt MN Reddy (Rtd) and CHAM Jugbir Singh (Rtd) of Navy. With the present strength of Executive Committee is 18 against sanctioned strength of 30. Their induction was proposed for approval by Col Srikantha Seshadri (Rtd) and seconded by Lt Col Vijay Chandra Salins (Rtd).

ISO 9001-2015 Certification.Gen Secy informed that TSEWA is the only ESM organization in India who got the ISO Certification from GIC (Guardian Independent Certification), London, UK. They check the entire documentation very strictly and if we come up to their specifications, then only they award the ISO certification. Since one year is over, we had applied for renewal. Again their team came for a week and had a very thorough checking and then gave the renewal certificate. Cmde Sudheer Parakala (Rtd), Gp Capt CRR Sastry (Rtd) and Lt Col G Parvathesam (Rtd) worked tirelessly along with the Gen Secy, to get this Renewal Certification. All present appreciated this and congratulated the team for doing this dedicated job.

Need for More Presidents in States. Gen Secy informed that out of 29 States and UTs, TSEWA is having State Presidents in 18 States only. Some of the Presidents in these states are very dormant and are hardly doing any work for TSEWA. Gen Secy wanted willing volunteers to do TSEWA job in various states. He said that this information has already been put in the TSEWA Blog. The Gen Secy wanted the out station members to keep this in mind and search for good volunteers.

Membership Drive. Gen Secy spoke about the road map for the membership drive. As on date TSEWA is having 8,594 members. As per the new norms of Min of Def to get the official recognition, any ESM organisation should have 1 lakh members from all three services. So he asked all members to try and get more members.

Lady Member in Executive Committee.  Regarding Induction of a lady member, he said that in spite of our continuous effort, no lady member came forward to take up this task. So he asked all members to try and get one willing and volunteer lady member. This will go a long way to sort out the problems of single ladies.

Presentation on Charitable Activities. Col MK Veeramani (Rtd) then was asked to present the activities of Charity Division during the last fin yr 2017 – 18. With the help of MS Power Point Slides, Col MK Veeramani (Rtd) explained the need for charity, salient features in the SOP of Charity, procedure to be followed for submitting applications for charity etc. During the last fin yr  2017 – 18, TSEWA had given charity of Rs 8,49,114/- to 44 persons. This was possible due to the generous donations received from members. He briefly explained the difficulties being faced by the charity division, due to incomplete documentation, some of the missing details etc. He wanted all to strictly follow the guide lines given by the charity division.

Donation by Smt Asha Varanasi. Mrs Asha Varanasi donated Rs 1 lakh to support the son or daughter of any ESM, to complete higher professional course. Col MK Veeramani had sent an e – mail asking TSEWA President of Zones, States and Districts and also members of Executive Committee to search and suggest most deserving student for this charity.

Expression of Gratitude by Two Beneficiaries of Charity by TSEWA. Two beneficiaries of TSEWA charity viz Mrs Padma and Ms Denuka came to the dais and spoke about the timely help extended by TSEWA. Since Mrs Padma spoke in Telugu, Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd), President translated her speech into English and explained how TSEWA had sent Capt B Joseph (Rtd) to the village of Mrs Padma in Bhadrachalam Dist saw the pitiable condition of the family of an Ex Serviceman living with 3 children and mother in law. Her husband Sep Veeriah of 17 Kumaon came on leave, went back to the unit on conclusion of annual leave, but did not reach the unit. Neither he came back home. He was missing since 14 years. As per the rule, his unit conducted a court of inquiry after 30 days of absence and declared him a deserter. Having been declared as a deserter, no family pension, no pensionery benefits, no IRLA Balance, no ECHS Card, no Canteen card etc are given to Smt Padma. TSEWA is giving monthly financial assistance to her to sustain themselves, educate her children, lead a decent life. In the meantime, TSEWA had helped her to file a FIR for missing person with the Police Station to get the Non-Traceable Certificate of missing person. Immediately, after that we will take up her case with Record Kumaon Regt, Landsdown, Uttarakhand for her family pension.

Girl Archer. Ms Denuka, the National level archer tribal girl came and expressed her gratitude to TSEWA in helping her by getting a state of art archery equipment from USA, costing Rs 1,20,000, due to which during the National Archery meet held at Pune in Jun 2018, she came second in Telengana where she competed in the Seniors category, where as she is only a sub junior. Her coach, Mr Arun Kumar, said that he is very confident that within one year she will reach the National level and after that she will reach the Inter National Level also. He and Ms Denuka said all these was possible due to the timely help of TSEWA.

Presentation on Financial Statement.  Lt Col G Parvathesam (Rtd), Treasurer made a  PowerPoint presentation on financial state of TSEWA . He explained in detail about accounts maintained in TSEWA. He said the balance sheet etc are already up loaded in the TSEWA Blog which is open to all including civilians. Also one set of financial documents have been displayed in the notice board in the AGM Hall.. He also gave the anticipated expenses for the FY 2018 – 19. Brig SKS Rana, VSM (Rtd) suggested that the proposed estimation of Rs 1,20,000/- for travel expenses etc is on the lower side. He suggested it should be Rs 2,00,000/-. It was agreed by all. Then Gp Capt CRR Sastry (Rtd) proposed to pass the balance sheet and the same was seconded by Lt Col VS Ramana Reddy(Rtd).

Legal Cases.   Brig SKS Rana, VSM (Rtd) President, Legal Division gave a brief summary of the progress on all the Court cases already filed  and which are awaiting to be filed in AFT Delhi. He said all these information is always available in our TSEWA Blog. Smt Rekha Sekhri is updating the Blog every day. He suggested all members should go to our Blog and see all relevant information of legal cases of TSEWA. However he gave a few difficulties he is facing before filing the cases, which results in unnecessary delays. If all the members take care of documentation, the avoidable delay can be reduced.

1.    Non entitled persons sending documents for becoming petitioners in legal cases filed by TSEWA in AFT Delhi.

2.    The requirement of the documents from one AFT to another varies. Some Judges want an Affidavit for the Petitioners accepting the Lead Petitioner to file the case on their behalf, whereas others accept an application on a plain paper. TSEWA files class action suits.

3.    In some of the AFTs Judicial member are not posted. Sometimes the Service member is not posted.

4.    Advocate of Min of Def asks for adjournment of legal case on the pretext that he has to verify the correctness of claims of all petitioners or some other reason.

5.    Chairman of AFTs give different requirements to file the legal cases.

6.    All three benches in AFT Delhi may not function always.

7.    Some AFTs follow Seriatim rule for announcement of judgment. But others give judgment once hearing is completed So it is not possible to expedite the judgment.

8.    Larger number of petitioners in legal case invariably causes delay.

9.    Combining all the three services i.e. Army, Navy, & Air force results in delay. Some times the applicant from Navy or Air force may be very few.

10. In spite of three cross checks, sometimes unsigned copies are submitted to AFT due to oversight.

11. Ex-parte decisions are normally not given. Advocate of Min of Def is absent for a few hearings.

12. Due to over load in some AFTs, the cases get transferred to other AFTs.

13. Lack of Quorum.

PIL In Hon’ble Supreme Court on 64 KB Card. Brig SKS Rana VSM (Rtd) explained about the case we are going to file in the Supreme Court regarding  ECHS  forcing all the members to pay and get the new 64 Kb card, when 16 Kb and 32 Kb cards can still be used technically. He said within a week this case is likely to be filed in the Supreme Court. Based on advice given by advocate of TSEWA in Hon’ble Supreme Court, the PIL is converted to a regular case. It is titled TSEWA Vs Union of India. We are asking for stay on issue of 64 kb card for all those in possession of 16 kb and 32 kb card as not even 10% of memory space is used till now.

Reservists Pensioin.  Pension for Reservists will be filed after the vacation of the AFTs. All thanked Brig SKS Rana VSM for his very informative points.

Account by Activities of Presidents of TSEWA.   Gen Secy asked Brig Vinayak Ramanarayan, VSM (Rtd), President, TSEWA, Central Zone, States of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh to give the activities being undertaken by him. Brig Vinayak gave a detailed picture of what all he is doing for the ESMs.

Then Gen Secy asked Col Srikantha Seshadri (Rtd), President, TSEWA, Karnataka to give his points. He explained about his monthly meeting in MEG & centre along with Capt  B Joseph (Rtd). He gave a vivid picture of what all he is doing about improvement of ECHS services all over India as he is a member of Oversight Committee of ECHS.

Address by Few Invitees. Shri KR Prakash, AGM, SBI, CPPC, Amaravati (Andrha Pradesh) and Shri Srisailam, Manager of SBI, CPPC, Amaravati thanked TSEWA for the support they are getting. They assured best service will be provided by them if the case come through TSEWA. They stated since last three years, the office bearers of TSEWA have  been maintaining good rapport with them by constant visits to their offices.

Honouring Invitees. TSEWA presented gifts to three members of CPPC, SBI, Amaravati and Smt Rekha Sekhri for excellent service they rendered to members of TSEWA.

Address by President, TSEWA. Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd), TSEWA informed all members that the tenure of present Executive Committee will come to an end by Jun 2021. Unless we get volunteers from now onwards to understand duties of various office bearers then from Jun 2021, it may be difficult for Executive Committee to function. He requested volunteers to come to 143, Vayupuri every Wednesday to see how the office bearers functioning so that by Jun 2021 they are fully familiar and can take on their duties as President, Vice – President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Joint Secretary. He exhorted all to come forward to take TSEWA to further heights. If no volunteer comes forward then by 2021 if no new Executive committee is formed, the Registrar of Society, Hyderabad is well within his right to take over asserts of TSEWA which we built up by our sweat and toil.

Demonstration of Archery by Ms Dhenuka.  Gen Secy asked Ms Denuka to give live demonstration of Archery with her state of art Bow and Arrow given by TSEWA. Mr Arun Kumar, her coach had arranged demonstration outside with a target. He warned all members to maintain a safe distance as arrow fired goes at very  high speed and can kill if it hits anyone.

Vote of Thanks.   Vote of Thanks was given out by H/ Capt Joseph.

Thereafter the AGM was declared as closed. Lunch was served to all attendees at the venue itself.

Demonstration of Archery by Ms Dhenuka.  Ms Denuka fired few shots bang on the target. Her accuracy, confidence, marksman ship was appreciated by all. It was a good experience for many who have not seen an Archery Competition.

Brig CS Vidyasagar (Rtd)
President, TSEWA