Mission Madhes: Constitution Draft

Mission Madhes
Constitution Draft

(1) Name
(1.1) Mission Madhes (US) is the autonomous US chapter of the global organization Mission Madhes.

(2) Objective
(2.1) To organize Madhesis worldwide to leverage the network for the benefit of the members.
(2.2) To contribute to the equality, dignity and prosperity of the Madhesi population in Nepal.

(2) Organization
(2.1) Mission Madhes (US) will have a nine member Executive Committee. President, Vice President - 5, General Secretary-2, Treasurer.
(2.11) Five Vice Presidents: The duly elected presidents of the five regional committees will be the ex officio Vice Presidents of the central committee.
(2.2) Seven strong regional committees are to be formed as feasible in the following regions. President, Vice President - 3, General Secretary- 2, Treasurer.

1. Northeast
2. Midwest
3. Southeast
4. Southwest
5. West

(2.21) The duly elected presidents of the three largest metro committees in a region will be ex officio vice presidents of their regional committees.
(2.3) Five member metro committees are to be formed as feasible in the following metros. President, Vice President - 2, General Secretary, Treasurer.

1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Houston
5. Philadelphia
6. Phoenix
7. San Antonio
8. San Diego
9. Dallas
10. San Jose
11. Detroit
12. Indianapolis
    

(2.2) Open elections are to be held by email, phone and in person for all Officer positions.
(2.3) Until elections are held for the first time, an ad hoc committee recognized by the central executive committee can conduct business for maximum one year at which point their term can be renewed for another year or until elections can be held.
(2.4) Elections are to be held for all levels in June 2010 for the first time. Elections will be held for all Officer positions in the organization at the same time in June. Those who became members by the end of May that year will be eligible to vote.
(2.41) Member Of The Year: The member who refers more members than anyone else in a particular year that get verified by an Officer will be declared Member Of The Year and will be honored at the Annual Picnic.
(2.5) It would be possible for one person to hold Officer positions at all three levels.
(2.6) Metros and regions that don't have enough members will not have committees.
(2.8) Officers will stay in office for two years.
(2.9) Board Of Advisors: The president, in consultation with the Executive Committee, will nominate a five member Board Of Advisors. A person has to be a member of the organization to be nominated. The Board's term expires with that of the president, or before if deemed necessary by the president.

(3) Principles
(3.1) Democracy and transparency are the two fundamental principles that Mission Madhes (US) shares with Mission Madhes chapters worldwide.
(3.2) Leaders will hold regular consultations with members and fellow Officers.
(3.3) All book keeping is to be kept transparent and online. The treasurer will publish online quarterly statements. The bank account will be handled by the signatures of the president and the treasurer. All transactions will have to be shared with the committee within a week and with members through the website within 10 days.
(3.4) Plentiful use is to be made of social/digital media to cover all events that the organization might host or be part of.

(4) Members
(4.1) Membership is free.
(4.2) Members are to submit their contact email addresses, phone numbers and their location: city, state, country.
(4.3) Members can be referred by any existing member, and must be verified by an Officer either by email or phone call or meeting in person.

(5) Global Reach
(5.1) Mission Madhes (US) is a member of the International Coordination Committee (ICC) of the global organization Mission Madhes.
(5.2) The president and one vice president chosen by the president are ex officio members of the ICC.

(6) Events And Programs
(6.1) The committees at the three levels are encouraged to do events so as to add to the vibrancy of the organization.
(6.2) Events can be organized solely or in coordination with other local organizations as determined feasible and necessary.
(6.3) Programs can also be launched. All book keeping will have to be kept transparent and online.

Mission Madhes (2)

Mission Madhes

Some early thoughts.

US Regions

1. Northeast
2. Midwest
3. Southeast
4. Southwest
5. West

The Big Cities In America

1. New York
2. Los Angeles
3. Chicago
4. Houston
5. Philadelphia
6. Phoenix
7. San Antonio
8. San Diego
9. Dallas
10. San Jose
11. Detroit
12. Indianapolis
    

We will keep the constitution short and simple. We will need a national executive committee, nine members. We will need an executive committee for each of the five regions, seven members each. And we will need one for each major metro region, five members each.

We will have a five member Board of Advisors, to be appointed by the President in consultation with the Executive Committee.

The committees have to be as diverse as possible.

We don't want to overstretch ourselves. We have to have a limited agenda, and we have to learn to deliver well.

• Holi event
• Summer picnic
• Events for the visiting Madhesi dignitaries
• Education project for kids in Nepal

That last one is of special interest to me. We should be able to raise money from interested members and other sources to sponsor the education of select kids in those members' homevillages in Nepal.

And then we have to host monthly tea parties of the active members to do phone banking so as to ensure a rapid expansion of the organization. Could we get 500 members in America? Could we launch chapters in at least five other countries, and in all the Terai districts? That is the question.

Mission Madhes

The decision to launch the organization Mission Madhes has already been made. But we have not formally launched it yet. Homework is being done. I expect the formal launch to take place in a few weeks. We will issue a press release when that happens. Everyone who joins before the formal date of launch will have been a founding member. We want there to be many founding members, preferably in many countries. We will register the organization in a few months.

This is to be a global organization, not a diaspora organization. We will have chapters also in Nepal. Each national chapter will be autonomous, but will have the same name. Mission Madhes (US), Mission Madhes (UK), Mission Madhes (India), Mission Madhes (Nepal) and so on.

Right now it looks like I will be president, and Amit Shah will be Vice President of the US chapter. We ar

Image by paramendra via Flickr

e also looking for someone to be Secretary, Treasurer, and so on. And there will be members of the Executive Committee. But this will be an ad hoc committee. The first elections will be duly held in June 2010. The elections will be open, transparent. All members will have the option to vote by email, or phone even. Who voted for whom will be kept transparent. We would want as many members as possible to vote. That elected committee will host the picnic on Roosevelt Island the first Saturday in August, weather permitting.

This is not ANTA splitting. We will want to work in close cooperation with ANTA, ANMUK, AIMSA and all other Madhesi diaspora organizations. We will not be affiliated with any Madhesi political party, but we will actively work with all political parties that might be working for the equality, dignity and prosperity of the Madhesi population in Nepal.

The first draft of the constitution of the organization will be circulated soon enough. Please give feedback.

There will be an international coordination committee. The president and vice president of each national chapter will be ex officio members. The committee will ensure that the basic principles of the organization like democracy and transparency are being respected by all the national chapters.

We will have a major event in New York City to coincide with Holi. That will be our biggest event of the year. We will invite non Madhesi Nepali guests, and also non Nepali guests for that event.

Our annual picnic on Roosevelt Island will be our biggest event of the year for the Madhesis. Madhesis from outside New York who might want to attend, we will try and find local Madhesi hosts for them for the weekend.

We will also do events for the visiting Madhesi dignitaries.

• Membership is to be free and global.
• All book keeping it to be kept transparent and online.
  
• Maximum use is to be made of digital technology and social media.
  
• It is not just about what we can do for Madhes. It is also about what we can do for the members of the organization in terms of leveraging the network for them.