ABC Think Tank

Constitution

CONSTITUTION AND REGULATIONS

The name of this Think tank shall be Asian British Connection (ABC). It is one completely owned and copy right protected activity of the registered private limited company called Asian British Connection (ABC) Limited. The company conducts mainly educational, social and community work.

MEMBERSHIP

All members must comply with the rules and regulations of the Think tank. The full membership of the Think tank will include British Asians and non-British Asians. All members should have basic minimum qualification of Bachelors Degree or equivalent from a recognised University. In case of students they should be in full time education and working towards a Bachelors Degree. All members should be wilfully subscribing to the objectives of the company and the Think tank. They may be resident in any part of the world. Membership application will be discussed at the Executive Committee in complete or with a minimum of three members of the committee. The members shall have all dues paid and shall be entitled to all of the privileges of the Think tank including the right to vote and hold office. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnic origin in the membership of the Think tank. Associate membership may be granted to those who do not have a Bachelors Degree and are not presently studying towards it either provided deemed fit by the Executive Committee. This is in recognition of the fact that many British Asians may not be educated to that level yet should be provided a forum to represent their interests. The Associate members shall not be able to contest or be nominated to the Executive Committee.

MEMBERSHIP FEE

The full dues will be determined by the Executive Committee and all members shall have to pay these. The term of the annual dues shall be from 1st January to 31^st December. Any member whose dues are not paid by 31^st January will be considered in arrears and will not be eligible to hold an office in the Think tank, but may vote as long as all dues are met prior to election.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

The Executive Committee shall be the governing body of the Think tank but not of the company itself. The Executive Committee of the Think tank will consist of seven (7) Executive members including Chairperson, Secretary, Social Secretary and Media spokesperson. The Company shall have power to authorise the appointment of standing and ad-hoc committees. The Executive Committee will maintain an up-to-date directory of members. The Executive Committee is not involved with financial aspects of the company, as these are dealt by the qualified chartered accountants of the company, who are also responsible for safekeeping of all financial records and audits.

Every full member of the Think tank will be eligible for voting and applying for election to the Executive Committee. All candidates would be nominated by one paid member nominee and seconded by two other paid members of good standing. All candidates will be asked to submit their manifesto in standardised format to the executive committee who will send it to all the membership for voting on a ballot paper returned within 40 days. Candidate with maximum votes will be elected to the executive committee. The election will be supervised by the company accountants..

Three Executive Committee members will be elected by the paid members every two years to serve until their successors are elected and installed. Four Executive Committee members will be nominated by the company thus making a total of seven Executive members. All Executive members will maintain physical residence in the UK during their tenure.

The three elected and four nominated members of the Executive Committee will then further elect from within itself the offices according to similar process of one nominating and two seconding by the Executive Committee members.

No candidate shall be elected to any office for more than two consecutive terms unless two thirds of the members waive this restriction in the AGM or be nominated by the company. No period restriction to hold office exists for nominated Executive Committee members. If any elected Executive Committee Member is found to lack team work, be uncooperative or does not attend three consecutive executive committee meetings without reason or notice, then he/she will be asked to step down from the position. The position will also be considered vacant if any elected officer resigns. If any nominated Executive Committee Member is found to lack team work, be uncooperative or does not attend three consecutive executive committee meetings without reason or notice, then the company share holders will decide a necessary course of action. This decision will be final and binding. The position will also be considered vacant if any nominated officer resigns.

If the Executive Committee post becomes vacant, the Executive Committee will nominate a temporary successor for the unexpired term.

The executive committee will meet every four months but for any urgent issue, Chairperson can convene extra meetings. The minutes of the meetings will be available to its members if requested.

The duties of the Executive Committee shall include the conducting and presiding of all meetings and group activities of the Think tank. The Executive Committee will be responsible for electing to positions of offices the members that are nominated and elected to the committee. The Executive Committee will monitor performance of each officer and take actions as necessary. The Executive Committee will determine dates for Executive meetings. The dates for academic activity days will be proposed by the Executive Committee to the company who will approve or disapprove according to feasibility of the situation.

The Chairperson shall chair the annual meeting and the AGM of the Think tank. He/ She shall chair all meetings of the Executive Committee unless he/she nominates somebody else. He/ she shall serve as official spokesperson of the Think tank. He/ She shall appoint all future committees of the Think tank subject to approval by the Executive Committee (such as Academic/CPD, Election Committee, IT/website, Newsletter, project work etc) The Chairperson will represent the Think tank at meetings of other Think tanks in UK and abroad.

The duties of the General Secretary shall include recording of the minutes of the Executive Committee meetings and the AGM. He/she shall supervise and maintain a permanent record of all official minutes of the Think tank for submission to company records. He/ She shall ensure that all arrangements for the holding of meeting are in compliance with the wishes of the Executive Committee and as per the constitution.

The Membership Secretary will supervise and maintain an up-to-date record/data of the members for submission to the company records. Information and Privacy act requires that details of membership will not be made public and will be a sole property of the company. The data shall include names, gender, and date of birth, addresses, telephone numbers, qualifications, employment, publications, special interests, and e-mail addresses.

The Publications Secretary will supervise all publications on behalf of Chairperson including editing of the Newsletter and Website of the Think tank for submission to the company. He/ she shall send out all official notices of meetings, committee appointments, special committee assignments, and elections to office. He/ she shall also notify members about any arrears or dues and send communication to members on the AGM, elections, any proposed changes, and dissolution if required on behalf of the Chairperson. No communication will be sent without the written approval of the company.

The Social secretary will supervise all social activities of the Think tank having obtained written approval from the Company. These may include annual dinner, family get together, academic visits etc.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aims and objectives of ABC Think tank shall be:

1. To provide a forum for thinkers in various fields, for sharing their knowledge and experience with fellow members. The forum will have free discussion on matters relating to British Asians and will be open to people from all races to contribute and benefit.

2. Its activities will benefit the members, British Asian and other non-Asian communities in the UK and abroad. The objective is to extend work to the benefit of not only wider British communities, but also to communities abroad that link to Britain especially in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Middle Eastern Countries.

3. To enable the British Asians who have not been back to the Indian subcontinent to withhold their Asian culture and values while living in the UK.

4. To bring together British Asians who have made numerous achievements in a spectrum of different fields.

5. To define more clearly what the term �British Asian� can be taken to really mean, and identifying this definition in context of today�s world of change and uncertainty.

6. To identify the causes why the British Asians claim to feel discriminated and marginalised by certain members of our society.

7. The national consensus shows that British Asians are the least educated group in Britain and have the largest rates of unemployment in the UK. Our objective is to think about reasons for this and propose correct solutions to the politicians.

8. British Asians comprise 4% of the population yet are grossly under-represented in the Parliament. Our objective would be to bring more political awareness in British Asians.

9. To understand the dynamics of �extremism� seen in British Asians. To propose evidence based and scientific remedies for it.

10. To make efforts to understand; the challenges the British Asians face today both in the UK and abroad, how faith is being misrepresented by some and misunderstood by others. .

11. To bring to the attention of people at places of decision making how the British Asians perceive their issues.

12. To provide a forum for the members to establish academic and social links with the policy makers in the UK and abroad.

13. To participate and contribute towards the activities of other Think tanks.

14. Raise awareness of issues relating to British Asians and help communities to integrate and understand each other better and achieve community cohesion.

15. To contribute to educational, social, scientific, and community work for the benefit of British Asians.

16. Under the above entitled PLC name, and for the above objectives expressed, the company shall have total and complete power and authority to make any rules or regulations, to alter, amend and change the same and to do everything needful for its good maintenance, support and viability as perceived by the share holders.

17. The company is empowered to hold, lease, receive, purchase and convey all manners of property, both real and personal, accept and receive donations, legacies and bequests; to borrow or lend money; to invest its funds as it so chooses

18. The company is empowered to own, publish, conduct, and circulate such literature as will further its expressed purposes; to name and appoint such managers and employees as its interests and convenience may require; and otherwise to do and perform all acts and things requisite and necessary to carry out the aims and objectives of this company.