My Village Community Bylaws

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My Village Community Bylaws

Village Syed Matto Shah, Taluka Bulri Shah Karim, District Tando Mohammad Khan, Sindh, Pakistan
To be approved by the General Body. To be translated into Urdu and Sindhi.

Phase I
ARTICLE I: Introduction and Name
Residents of village Syed Matto Shah, Taluka Bulri Shah Karim, District Tando Muhammad Khan, Sindh, Pakistan (henceforth referred to as the Community), hereby form My Village Community, Syed Matto Shah (henceforth referred to as the Association) for the welfare of the Community.

ARTICLE II: Objectives

a. The Association shall develop ways and means to contribute to the growth and development of the Community.

Article III: Membership

a. Adults (18 years or above) residents of village Syed Matto Shah can be the members. b. Rights and obligations of members: I. Eligible persons shall fill in a prescribed membership application form that shall be approved by the Governing Council. If the member withdraws his/her membership in writing; If the member is convicted of any crime

c. Membership shall expire for the following reasons: I. II.

My Village Community Bylaws d. The community shall not participate in any political or religious affairs, however, political or religious persons can be invited as guests to the Community events.

Article IV: Governance and Structure

The Association shall be a registered body by the local administration/Government.

a. General Body I. It shall comprise members of the Association b. Governing Council

I. It shall comprise members from each mohallah (street or distinctive village areas); in case of less than 10 families, a mohallah shall be joined with another nearby mohallah and shall be counted as one mohallah). It shall be the legislative and policy-making body of the Association. It shall create and authorise committees, upon the recommendation of the President of the Association. It shall create and authorise special and ad hoc committees as and when needed and upon the recommendation of the President of the Association.

II. III. IV.

c. Officers
I. II. III. The officers of the Association shall be the President, Secretary and Treasurer. They shall be elected from the Governing Council members. All the three officers shall be from different mohallahs. The President shall be the presiding officer of the Association, however, all her/his decisions shall be subject to the approval by the Governing Council through a poll, with a minimum of 4 votes out of 7 members of the Governing Council. The Secretary shall be the recording officer of the Governing Council and the General Body. The Secretary shall supervise all arrangements for the holding of each meeting in compliance with the bylaws and instructions of the Governing Council. The Treasurer shall be the manager of all recurring funds of the Association including all assessments, and donations. In such duties, the Treasurer shall be accountable, through the Governing Council, to the Association. The Treasurer shall collect, deposit and disburse all funds received. Signatures of all the three officers shall be mandatory in the bank account operations. Signatures shall be changed with the new officers accordingly. The term of office for each officer shall be one year, starting January 1 and ending on December 31. In the event that one or more elected officers (other than the President) is unable or fails to complete her/his term of service, the President, in 2/7

IV. V.

VI.

VII. VIII. IX. X.

My Village Community Bylaws consultation with the Nominations and Elections Committee, shall have the power to fill such vacancy or vacancies by the appointment of a replacement from the same mohallah(s). Each replacement so chosen shall hold office until the end of the term of the officer whom he/she is replacing. They can contest the next elections. In case the President is unable or fails to complete a term, a Governing Council member from the same mohallah shall be elected to assume the office for the remainder of the term. He/she can contest the next election.

d. Committees
I. II. The President shall nominate members to committees in consultation with the Governing Council. The committees of the Association can be as follows and the terms of reference for each shall be provided and approved by the Governing Council: a. Bylaws Committee b. Nominations and Elections Committee c. Registration Committee d. Survey Database Committee e. Website committee III. Each committee shall present regular reports, at least once a year, to the Governing Council.

ARTICLE V: Elections
a. Elections shall be held between 1st and 10th of December for members of Governing Council. b. Governing Council members shall elect the following three positions with a simple majority, between 11th and 20th of December, conducting the polls in a way that a member can participate in all the three elections: I. II. III. President Secretary Treasurer

c. Elections shall be concluded and newly elected members and officers announced by December 21. d. Elections shall be held by secret ballot. e. No candidate shall be elected to the same office consecutively (a gap of a year shall be required). f. The election process shall be supervised and conducted by the Nominations and Elections Committee. The members of this committee shall not be contestants for elections. g. Members may self-nominate, or may be nominated by any member. 3/7

My Village Community Bylaws h. In case of a tie, a run-off election shall be conducted amongst the candidates receiving equal votes. No new names shall be sought nor added to the list of candidates indicated on the original ballot for the post under consideration in a runoff election. Only two candidates with the highest number of votes shall be included in the runoff election.

ARTICLE VI: Meetings

a. Meetings shall be held at such times and places as determined by the President in consultation with the Governing Council. b. A minimum of one Governing Council and one General Body meeting shall be held every year. c. A simple majority of the Governing Council shall constitute the quorum for the Governing Council Meetings. d. The presence of at least 10% of the membership shall constitute quorum for the General Body Meetings. These numbers shall be revised by the active membership at a duly called General Body Meeting within five years of ratification of the bylaws, and at least once every 10 years thereafter, to adjust to the growing membership.

ARTICLE VII: Transparency

a. All the Association announcements, activities and accounts shall be displayed on the community website within five working days of the announcement or update. b. In case of a corruption case, Governing Council shall take the following measures priority-wise: I. II. III. Resolve at the Governing Council level; If not resolved, discuss at the General Body meeting; If not resolved, take a legal action.

c. If an Association asset is lost, stolen or damaged, Governing Council shall take an action on the following basis: I. Question the person responsible for the asset in MVC accounting record. In case of a negligence, the Council can take a decision with a simple majority as below: a. Issue a show cause notice to the responsible person b. Ban the responsible person for up to two years to hold any Association office c. Recover the money based on the current value of an asset as recorded in MVC accounting record. d. With the strength of at least six votes, Governing Council members can initiate a no confidence move against an Officer or a Governing Council member. If the move is successful, a new Officer or Governing Council member shall be elected within a week. 4/7

My Village Community Bylaws

ARTICLE VII: Privacy

a. The Association databases will be accessible to the Governing Council members only. b. If private data, like surveys, contact numbers, photos, etc. is misused by an individual, Governing Council shall take the following measures priority-wise: I. II. III. Take an appropriate action against the individual; If not resolved, discuss at the General Body meeting; If not resolved, take a legal action.

ARTICLE VIII: Projects

a. With a simple majority, Governing Council will decide if a project shall be run by the Association itself or given to an NGO run by a resident. In case of the latter, all NGOs run by the residents of the village shall be asked for pitching sessions; the Council shall select the best. b. The Council shall try different NGOs. c. If there are any employment opportunities, hiring shall be done on the merit basis. However, preference shall be given priority-wise to Council members and persons recommended by Council members from their mohallahs.

ARTICLE IX: Amendments

a. The Association may from time to time repeal, add or amend the bylaws. b. Proposal for amendments may be initiated with a written request of at least 5% members. c. Any request for amendments shall be addressed initially to the Bylaws Committee, which shall provide its recommendations to the Governing Council. d. The Governing Council shall deliberate upon the recommendations of the Bylaws Committee at the next regular meeting, or a specially called meeting upon the request of a simple majority of the Governing Council members. e. Once approved by a simple majority of the Governing Council, the proposed amendments shall be presented to the General Body at the next scheduled meeting, for which at least a 30-day notice and the intention to present such amendments shall be provided to the General Body members. f. At least 55% majority of the General Body, at a duly called General Body meeting, shall be required to carry the amendments.

Phase II
Depending on the success of Phase I, Governing Council may decide a suitable timing to activate Phase II. In the new phase, same terms and conditions would apply as above, except the following: 5/7

My Village Community Bylaws

Officers
I. The officers of the Association shall be the President, Vice President, Senior Secretary, Secretary, Senior Treasurer, and Treasurer. They shall be elected from the Governing Council members. All the six officers shall be from different mohallahs. The President shall be the presiding officer of the Association, however, all her/his decisions shall be subject to the approval by the Governing Council through a poll, with a minimum of 10 votes out of 14 members of the Governing Council. Vice president shall provide the support to the president. The Senior Secretary shall be the recording officer of the Governing Council and the General Body. Secretary shall provide her/him the necessary support. The Senior Secretary shall supervise all arrangements for the holding of each meeting in compliance with the bylaws and instructions of the Governing Council. The Senior Treasurer shall be the manager of all recurring funds of the Association including all assessments, and donations. In such duties, the Senior Treasurer shall be accountable, through the Governing Council, to the Association. Treasurer shall provide her/him the necessary support. The Senior Treasurer shall collect, deposit and disburse all funds received.

II. III.

IV. V.

VI.

VII.

Elections
a. Governing Council members shall elect the following positions in ascending order with a simple majority, between 5th and 20th of December, conducting the polls in a way that: I. A member can participate in all the six elections in a way that male and female candidates from different mohallahs get a chance alternatively. For example, if a male is chosen as president, other males can contest for Senior Secretary, but not for Vice President. However, males and females can contest for Senior Secretary and vice versa, so on and so forth. i. President ii. Vice President iii. Senior Secretary iv. Secretary v. Senior Treasurer vi. Treasurer

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My Village Community Bylaws

Annexure
List of mohallahs (in alphabetical order):
1. Mohallah Allah Jurio Qambrani 2. Mohallah Bakhir Sathio 3. Mohallah Khamiso Sathio 4. Mohallah Mianji Moosa Sathio 5. Mohallah Nawab Paryal Sathio 6. Mohallah Qazi Bachayo Sathio 7. Mohallah Rano Kolhi

Membership Fees
Rs 30 per month

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