Download Roles and Responsibilities: pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file
Basically, the local chapter acts as a medium between the local people and people in other chapters as well as the international community. So, the city or the country representatives facilitate this interaction at the city or country level as the case may be.
Recommended
Roles (not mandatory)
Local chapters
are 100% independent entities, and representatives can choose their own roles,
as long as these roles are aligned with the objectives of Bihar Anjuman
1.
Gather information about all the Muslims from Bihar and Jharkhand –
maintain a database (Soft copies in MS Excel or MS Access, or hard copies,
whatever is possible), to facilitate interaction between all of them and with
other chapters/ international body. Send me the email addresses of all those who
have access to internet, so that I can add them all to the Yahoo
Group which acts as an excellent medium of interaction at all levels.
2. Bring people together with the sole aim of taking positive actions
that would lead to fulfillment of Anjuman’s objectives. Achieve it by holding
regular meetings of the active members to take stock of local activities during
the one month gone by, familiarize them with developments in other chapters or
at the international level, discuss action plans for the future, collect
suggestions for improving the objectives, plans of actions, etc. Arrange at
least one annual get-together to bring them all – members or non-members,
active or inactive, those who agree with Anjuman’s objectives and those who
don’t - everybody.
3.
Devise a membership methodology wherein those who opt to become members of
the local team contribute regularly a nominal amount (like Rs. 100) towards
some of the objectives of Anjuman (You may finalize these in the first few
meetings). So, you will actually be keeping records of two types of Muslim
brothers (or sisters):
a. Members
b. Non-Members
You may decide (say, in your first two meetings) to provide some additional
priviledges to members.
From among both groups would emerge contributors for some objectives of Anjuman,
e.g., somebody may be a member contributing Rs. 100 monthly as
membership plus Rs. 1,000 for awarding of scholarship or for
construction of model school. A non-member thinks that the Rs. 100 being
collected is not being used for the objectives of his interest, so he may decide
not to become a member, but still contribute towards the construction of a
mosque or a school or towards awarding of scholarship, etc.
Membership may have categories: Ordinary member (say, Rs. 100 per
month), Life member (say, Rs. 5,000 one time), Patron (Free for some
respected dignitaries whose presence binds the group together or who have
already contributed a lot by some means. For others, you may charge e.g. Rs. 10,000 (one time fee), and so on. These are just examples that are
meant to be for guidance alone.
4.
Chart out a disbursement mechanism – the local chapters are free to spend
the membership amount collected for local chapter chapters anyway they want.
But, all disbursements must follow a charter (Download a model charter) agreed
with the members at the time of formal launch of the chapter. Also include in
the charter the contributions that will go towards the activities taken at the
international levels (say, 50%, 75%, 100%, etc). Publish the charter in the
yahoogroup as well as on the website www.biharanjuman.org
5. Propagate Anjuman’s values and objectives:
Request (motivate) all the members to propagate Anjuman’s values and
objectives with the aim to work jointly for common causes that are purely
constructive in nature.
6. REACH: Work towards making the benefits of Anjuman’s activities reach
the masses. This can be achieved by either bringing the masses into the
network or by taking the Anjuman to grass-roots – have local representatives
in each district in the first stage and in all the villages in the second stage.
7. Enlist the names and contact addresses of all the consultancies/ companies
in your region and send it to the group – ultimately to be uploaded into
the Files section of the yahoogroup. Try to establish good relationship with
Consultants/companies’ HR departments and circulate their internal
requirements to the group. They would love to widen their sphere.
8. Build a progressive mind-set: Develop a culture among the community
that promotes mutual respect and readiness to help each other grow. Let’s
promote a culture of actions and save ourselves from debates that don’t result
in any actions. Mutual respect means that every other group (Muslim or
non-Muslim) that is doing something was started with right intentions and we
must acknowledge its achievements, if any, and ignore its demerits. Let’s
learn from their positives, and ignore their negatives. It is no use to work
against anyone. We should work for them, and support them, if we find them
working towards the right goals. If we find them doing something wrong, we
should mind our own business, so far as Bihar Anjuman is concerned. At
individual levels, members in our group are free to have association with other
groups. But, those who carry responsibilities must avoid being member of any
group that has objectives contrary to ours.
9. Maintain a bank account for all the membership contributions – a
joint account if possible – the names must be agreed in a meeting of members
and disclosed to all the contributors.
10. Account-keeping: In each monthly meeting, collections received and
payments made (disbursements of any kind) and the bank-balance (supported by the
latest bank statement) must be disclosed.
11. Local collection mechanism: Membership fees may be recorded in one
book per collector (call him/ her by any name) with one page dedicated to one
member. So, the responsibility is to identify “collectors” who can represent
Anjuman among a group of people who can be easily accessed by him, issue a book
to him, and ask him to bring him this book in each of the monthly meeting where
he deposits all the collected money to the finance secretary (treasurer, or call
him by any name) who audits the book immediately.
12. Maintain a list of all the Organizations/ NGOs working in your city/
country/ region. Cooperate with them in propagating values compatible to us,
share info and efforts that could provide benefits to each other or to the
community.
Final Word: The above is just a guideline. Remember that we are just
evolving, and this guideline is subject to change until we constitute our
executive/ governing bodies or register an NGO. It may not be possible for a
local chapter or its representatives to do all that the guideline suggests, but
a beginning must be made somewhere. So, however little it may look like, efforts
must be taken to bring people together with the sole intention to help our
community constructively. This clearly means shedding all kinds of ill-will away
against any individual or organization. Within Bihar Anjuman, everyone must be
respected without any consideration to his affiliation at an individual level.
We need not follow his/ her advice (decisions are taken as a group, honouring
majority opinion), but urge him/ her to participate wholeheartedly in our
activities and programs that we undertake. People are free to participate in
activities and programs that suit their own thoughts and inclinations, and we
don’t wish to force members to join in all activities and programs.
Moderating team: myrahbar@gmail.com
Shikwa-e-zulmat-e-shab se to kahin behtar tha;
Apne hissey ki koi shamm'a jalaate jaatey. [Ahmad Faraz]
Better light a candle than curse the darkness |