With the revocation of suspensions completed, many of the active members of the KCA came forward to offer their help & services to the Association.
The Managing Council sent out it’s first communication to members (the letter can be downloaded below), the Cultural & Recreation sub-committee was constituted & the Managing Council was revamped.
A Thanksgiving Mass was the most appropriate way to kick-off activities at the KCA. However, since Lent was already upon us, the Mass was postponed to April 2 (after Easter). You can read more about the Thanksgiving Mass & Get-together here.
Important Decision regarding Managing Council members:
After some discussion, the Managing Council decided that immediate relatives (siblings, parents, children, spouses) should not serve on the Council at the same time. Moreover, members on previous Councils confirmed that this was a long tradition of the KCA, which had been followed for many years. Although there was nothing in the KCA Rules & Regulations preventing this, the Council felt that the credibility of the institution was enhanced by this tradition.
Following this decision, a couple of Managing Council members stepped down & new members came on board. For the current list of Managing Council members, please click here.
Repair Fund:
Most members with a financial or legal bent of mind will appreciate that as a 12A organisation under Income Tax law, there are certain statutory requirements to met to comply with this section. One of these is that 85% of the income of the KCA must be spent towards the objects of the Trust. If 85% cannot be spent in that year, it can be carried forward & spent within 5 years succeeding that year. If not spent within the given 5-year period, income tax with associated interest & penalties are applicable on the unspent amount.
The repair & maintenance of trust assets (our building) comes within the definition of ‘objects of the Trust’. The previous Managing Council was wise enough to understand that the 47-year old building that we occupy needs periodic repairs, and the accumulated balance in the Repair Fund stood at Rs 90 lacs as of October 2015, when the new Managing Council took over.
In order to comply with the requirements of Section 12A, and to keep the institution from being penalised with tax, interest & penalties, an amount of Rs 18.15 lacs needed to be spent before March 31, 2016. With this background, the Managing Council decided to undertake certain critical repairs before March 31.
