Tag Archives: OCA India

Assistance sought from OCs for Coralie DeMello [OC Melville DeMello's widow]

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Reply

Dear OCs,

In continuation to the message I sent earlier, we have decided to take the following measures based on the information currently available to us.

Mrs Coralie DeMello is in dire need, given her age and condition, of physical care and assistance. She needs a person to help and assist her with simple household chores. Moving around the house, answering the doorbell or being assisted to the toilet are some of the typical activities for which she needs support.  So, we will immediately, and as an interim measure, arrange for a reliable and capable person to be with her on a regular basis. We will then quickly assess her complete needs within the first few days and extend further help on a need basis.

The OCs charter does not provide for anything in the nature of assistance that we now envisage. So, and in order not to delay proceedings, I am setting about opening a bank account jointly in the following names:

Neel Kamal Mehra, Vijay Khurana and B. M. Singh.  We will be joint signatories to this account.

The cause is good and there has been a spontaneous out-pouring from several of you, urging the OCA into action. We are responding to these wonderful requests. I will take charge of this matter with assistance from anyone who is willing and capable of offering their time to visit and look after Mrs DeMello. Right now we need contributions and the generous and kind hearted are urged to send in whatever they can voluntarily contribute for Mrs DeMello’s assistance. This account will be kept only for this purpose and we will render details on the OCA website.

You may send in your cheques written out to any one of the names listed above at the following address:

The Old Cottonians Association.
1, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110016 India

Any suggestions will be always more than welcome but right now I would urge you to send in your contributions to ease the life of the wife of a remarkable and outstanding OC who did so much for our country and our School!! 

I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,

B. M. Singh
President
OCA India

AN APPEAL TO OCs

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New Year greetings to all of you!  

You may be aware from the message circulated on our Website by Wendy Dewan , Secretary OCA, the ANNUAL LUNCH this year is scheduled to be held on 19th Feb at Aurobindo Marg.

Let me take this opportunity to earnestly request our members to make this a great success by attending in large numbers. May I also request you to please take the trouble of informing other OCs who do not access the website and persuade them to attend.

An Association like ours exists primarily for the members and it is for the members to ensure that these get-togethers are well attended. Your participation means a great deal to fellow OCs.

To ensure that the food is not wasted or that it does not run short please indicate your attendance to the Secretary, OCA by e-mail to oca_delhi@yahoo.com and by phone to Ms Gopa Seal +919899546669 and 011-42092300/42092302

See you in large numbers with wives/girl friends!

B.M.Singh, President OCA (India)

OCA (India) – Annual get-together 2012

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LUNCH – OCA (INDIA) NEW DELHI
on Sunday 19th February 2012 at 12.00 PM

The oldest alumni association in the country will be celebrating its 101st jubilee lunch!!

The OCA Annual Lunch will be held at 1, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110016 on Sunday 19th February 2012 at 12.00 pm

  1. Donation for Lunch:
    • Above 70 yrs & all OC wives – Guests [no charge]
    • OCs – Rs.1000.
    • College Students – Rs. 500.
  2. Dress: Blazer with Tie/ Lounge Suit/ Combination Suit
  3. The Inter-House Inni Bawa Golf Tournament will be held in March 2012. Date and venue will be announced by Chetan Singh, contact no. 9811020062.

Happy Days are here again!

Col. R. Dewan Hony. Secretary OCA (India)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FOR ATTENDING CENTENARY OCA LUNCH

I, (Name) ………………………………………………… House I/C/R/L Years in School from ………..…….to…………… Batch year …………………….……. Address……………………..…………………………………………………………….. E-mail ID……………………………..……………………..……………………………. Tel: (Off)……………………………………….(Res)……………..…………………….. Mob: ………..………………………….

Will be attending the OCA, Lunch on Sunday 19th Feb 2012 at 12.00 pm    Yes / No ………….

RSVP: Gopa Seal oca_delhi@yahoo.com Tel: 42092302

Delhi / NCR Chapter

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Dear OCs,
In my previous letter there was mention of the various Chapters of OCA (India) and the need to structure them within certain geographic limits. I have not had any feed back as yet from any of the members on this subject.

Even the Delhi or NCR Chapter, as it should be called, has not really been constituted and has not been functioning as a distinct body. The members from this region should take steps to do so. For this purpose, I have requested Neel Kamal Mehra  to convene a meeting of active OCs of this region so that they can choose their representatives. While he has the e-mail addresses of many and so does Jaspal Sawhney, it would make matters simpler if the members from NCR should contact him at nkmehra@gmail.com and give their contact details to facilitate this.
With best regards,
B.M.Singh

Minutes of the Meeting [India AGM 2011]

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AGM – 7th April 2011

1.         The AGM was held at 1 Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi on 7th April 2011.

2.         52 members attended the AGM this year. *

3.         The President, Mr. DC Anand briefed the House and thanked his committee for the good work put in by all. He also apprised the House that the school is going to start a staff exchange program with the famed Marlborough College in UK which will run concurrently with the current student exchange program.

4.         Two minutes of silence was observed for the members and others close to the OCA who passed away in the recent past.

1. Roshan Lal Vashisht, Staff                         Nov 28, 2010
2. KN Shakabpa (1954 batch)                         Sept 16, 2010
3. Meera Batra w/o late Vice Admiral RN Batra (C, 1920-37)
4. Adarsh Talwar                                            Dec 2, 2010
5. Maj Gen. Keshav Chander Khanna (R, 1924-33) Dec 18, 2010
6. HS Sidhu (L 1947-49)
7. Hasan Agha (Last Indian captain of undivided India) Nov 16, 2010
8. Chand Prakash Akers (L, 1949)                 Feb 25, 2011
9. Mukesh K Sethi (I, 1960-68)                      March 27, 2011

5.         He also informed that Rs. One crore, that was contributed by the OCA to the school for infrastructure expansion, has tripled  to Rs three crore on account of the contribution of 2 crore by the School. The President further stated that the corpus will be used for building state-of-the-art accommodation for the staff. Separate accommodation for Class IV employees of the school will be built below the bye-pass road. The House appreciated the fund-raising efforts as well as the expansion plans. Mr. KC Anand’s efforts of raising funds was appreciated.

6.          The House was informed that an infrastructure committee of the OCA will be constituted to get regular updates relating to the utilization of the infrastructure corpus by the school. Mr. Tejinder Singh had already drawn up a road map for the planned expansion and up gradation of the school’s infrastructure. Members also agreed that there should be fund raising efforts from OCA (India) to further increase the Infrastructure corpus so as to bring the road map to fruition.

7.       The School had repaid the  entire  loan and  was  debt free. It had also been able to  fund the entire  arrears of  Gratuity that was outstanding  during the  previous period.  The members of the House appreciated the healthy financial status of the School.

8.         After serving the OCA (India) as its President since 1987 Mr. Deep C Anand announced that he is stepping down as President of the OCA (India) and felt that there’s a need for younger lot to lead the organization. He was steadfast in his resolve to exit from the post of President even though many requested him to continue.

Secretary’s Report
9              The  Secretary briefed the house about the accounts of the OCA (India). Mr. A.K. Mehra, member stated that there were no   adverse remarks by the Auditors. He then read the Auditor’s report for the financial year ending 31 March 2010. Balance sheet is attached. The accounts were scrutinized by the members. The statement of Accounts for the year 2009-2010 was unanimously passed and adopted.

10.       The House approved retention of Davinder S Jaaj & Co. having its office at SCO 18, II Floor, Sector 17 E, Chandigarh as the auditors for the next financial year.

11.          Mr. A K Mehra clarified that since Tax Exemption for the OCA had been obtained till 31 March 2011, there was a need to hold the AGM latest by April 2011. However, the next AGM should be held before September 30, so as to file various returns in time. The Secretary has been advised to file the application for the renewal of statutory exemptions based on Audited Account as on 31st  March, 2010 along with other information required to be filed.

12.       The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved unanimously. The list of those who attended the AGM is attached *

13.       The Centenary celebrations of the Old Cottonian’s Association organized in 2010 went without a glitch. The efforts of OCA Chandigarh Chapter were lauded by the members. Mr. Sukhinder Singh elaborated about the successful celebrations in the run-up to the OC Week organized by his chapter which included a Golf match between OC and old Boy’s of Lawrence School, Sanawar. OC’s, of course, were victorious. Mr. Sukhinder Singh also informed about the dinner hosted at the Taj, Chandigarh and the Centennial drive to the school with an overnight halt at Barog where a campfire and barbeque was organized. The members appreciated the efforts of the Chandigarh and North India chapter in organizing the event.

14.       The Secretary Col. R Dewan read out a letter in front of the House sent by OC Rajinder S. Thakur. Thakur, in his letter addressed to Secretary,  said “I urge you to postpone the  AGM and elections till such a time that the constitution is amended.” To this Mr. Anil K Mehra replied to the House that it cannot be done as not holding the AGM within 15 months of the last AGM would be against the constitution of the OCA (INDIA).

Thakur objected to the point that an OC residing outside Delhi could not contest the OCA (India) elections. His letter further reads “I urge you to postpone the elections of the OCA and prevent them from being held under a clause that is appalling to say the least. If this is not done, then I’m sure I speak for a majority when I say that you can have your 15 people having lunch every year, but please excuse us if we refuse to consider it as the association representing ALL Old Cottonians.”

The Secretary informed the House that a committee formed to amend the present Memorandum of Association (MOA) has already uploaded the proposed MOA in the OCA website for scrutiny of the members. The OCA members can give suggestions to their respective chapters by May 15, 2011. Thereafter the chapters will nominate two members each who will then deliberate over the pertinent suggestions forwarded by the OCA members across the country within a given time fame. Thereafter the matter will be put up before an EGM for approval of the amended MOA.

Elections
Mr. Inni Bawa (Rivaz 1954 – 59) stated that without outgoing President Mr. DC Anand’s support, the OCA (India) will just whither away as it has happened in the past. He therefore categorically proposed that Mr. DC Anand continue as the President Emeritus of the OCA (India). The resolution was unanimously passed by the House. After being the torchbearer of the organisation for 24 years, the outgoing President Mr. DC Anand graciously accepted the honour bestowed on him by the members of the House.

At the close of the AGM, a suggestion was received from members of the House that there shouldn’t be a complete break from the past in running the OCA (India). Col (Retd) R. Dewan was unanimously asked to continue and he graciously agreed to do so. PRESIDENT, Emeritus, Mr. DC Anand proposed the name of Mr. BM Singh (C, 57-63) as the new President of the OCA (India) and this was accepted by the House. Mr. Harpreet Singh Khatkar (R, 80-90) and Mr. Anupam Thapa (C, 83-95) were co-opted to the Executive Committee of OCA (India).

Col. R. Dewan
Secretary OCA (India)

* The list shows names of 43 OCs who registered. The other OCs failed to register.

Letter to all OCs – from BM Singh

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Dear OCs,
I feel privileged in addressing this letter to all fellow OCs after my election as President of OCA (India). I accept this responsibility with all humility and with some apprehension too. There are some OCs who feel that the organization is not inclusive but too Delhi centric and want a greater say in its management. That our MOA needs to be amended is accepted by all and, to this effect, a draft has been prepared by the constituted committee and hosted on our website. It is open for members to offer their suggestions, which will be further screened by representatives of all chapters and put to vote at an EGM. By this open democratic process we hope to eliminate most, if not all grievances, of members.

At this juncture I would like to put across to you what the OCA means to me. It has a dual function. While being an organization, which is a platform for all old students of BCS to meet, socialize and bond, preferably across all ages; we have to also, in an altruistic manner, provide support, financial and moral, to B.C.S. without interference with the actual running of the school. We do have representation on the Board of Governors and, to that extent, help in the framing of policies of the management.

In every group or association there would be diverse views on all subjects. It would be our endeavor to listen and take into consideration all the varied suggestions before proceeding further. In furtherance of this objective I would like to take this opportunity to request each of the Chapters to suggest the names of two members who could participate as members of the Committee.

While on the subject of Chapters of OCA (India), we should further fine-tune their geographic limits taking into account the number of OCs residing there in. Delhi or NCR, Northern (comprising of Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and J&K) and Himachal Pradesh are generally accepted but what about the rest of India? The Bombay or Mumbai chapter has many members but does it only comprise of Maharashtra or also the other adjoining states? Moreover, how many OCs reside in the southern and eastern states? Are there enough to constitute separate chapters or should they be part of say a ‘Rest of India’ chapter. These are all matters, which require urgent resolution and I request all active members to write in with their views. We at the office of OCA (India) will also be perusing the list of members to arrive at some understanding of this issue and if there are OCs who are willing to lend a helping hand, they are most welcome.

B.M.Singh