Minutes of Proceedings of 16th
Annual General
Meeting held on 10.06.2012
In
terms of the Notice dated 18.05.2012 issued by Sri Biswatosh Sarkar, Secretary,
Happy Nook Co-operative Housing Society Ltd., the Annual General Meeting of the
Society commenced at 5.15 P.M on 10.06.2012 at the Society premises with Sri
Benudhar Munshi as Chairman of the meeting.
Members
Present: 69 ( Sixty Nine)
The Chairman called the Meeting
to order.
At
the outset, the Chairman requested the members to observe one minute silence to
show respect to the departed souls of late Sujit Sen (A-6 / 5), late Satyajit
Roy (A-10 / 15), late Amal Kumar
Bhattacherjee (A- 5 / 7) , late Monjushree Som (A-7 / 6), late Tarun Sarkar (A-
8 / 12), late Adinath Sen (A- 3 / 4), late Juthika Ghosh (A- 6 / 6), late
Supriti Purokayastha ( A- 7 / 8), late Gita Gupta (A- 10 / 16) and late Joya
Banerjee ( A- 3 / 9) when the members stood in silence.
The
Chairman then requested the Secretary to read out the Notice dated 18th
May, 2012 of the 16th Annual General Meeting for convening the
meeting which was done.
Being
requested by the Chairman, the Secretary initiated discussion Agenda wise.
Agenda No:
01
Confirmation of the
Proceedings of the Last Half- Yearly General Meeting Held on 23.10.2012.
Secretary stated that the
minutes of the last Half-Yearly General Meeting held on 23.10.2012 was duly
circulated. Members were requested to deliberate on any point to be included or
omitted. Nobody raised any further point and the minutes of the last Half-
Yearly General Meeting were confirmed unanimously which was proposed by Shri
Dilip Kumar Mukhopadhyay (A-3 / 7) and seconded by Shri Goutam Basu Thakur
(A-1 / 2).
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Agenda No: 02
Consideration of the
Secretary’s Report
Secretary at the outset welcomed all members present
and read out the names of other new members who have joined the Society after
01.04.2012 viz Mrs.Kalyani Dutta (A- 10 / 6) joint member alongwith her husband
Dr.Ranjit Kanti Dutta, Mrs. Sabitri Chakraborty ( A- 8 / 4) joint member
alongwith her son Shri Debasis Chakraborty, Mrs.Sipra Verma ( A- 11 / 11) Joint
member alongwith her daughter and Dr.Subrata Kumar Sen in respect of flat No:
A- 6 / 11 in place of Dr.Sitesh Dasgupta.
Secretary
wanted to know whether the Annual Report of the Secretary circulated earlier
might be presumed to be treated as read. Mr.B.K.Ghosh (A-11 / 9) requested to
read out the report. Secretary read out the same and then placed the report to
the General Body for discussion.
Shri Hirak Ghosh (A- 5 / 15)
stated that almost Rs. 8.50 lakhs has been spent for Building repair works.
Chipping, scaffolding & repairing of the 11 buildings were done and the
maximum expenditure should not have been more than Rs.3,50,000.00 as per CPWD
Schedule of Rates. He asked whether analysis of cost was done before starting
the work. He also asked how many mandays were spent.
Shri
Kushal Roy (A- 7 / 6) stated that cost should
be justified on the basis of previous estimate / expenditure.
Shri
P.B.Sinha ( A- 9 / 14) stated that the supervision of the work was not properly
done. He asked analysis from the Board.
Shri
Sadiquzzaman ( A- 8 / 14) asked, as per
Rule 63 of Bye- Laws of the Society, whether for carrying out the repair work
any tender notice was published in newspapers and if not it should be recorded.
Shri B.K.Ghosh ( A- 11 / 9)
stated that for 5 buildings expenditure incurred towards labour charges was
Rs.2,25,000.00 for contractual works while Rs.3,70,657.00 was incurred for
other 6 buildings and may be for other works which is not justified. He also
mentioned about the lack of supervision of the works except by the Chairman
& the Secretary. No other Director was ever seen supervising the job of
repairing work.
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Chairman stated that the repair
work was done not only for 11 residential blocks with their overhead tanks but
also for office building, Community Hall, Pump Room, Boot House Park, Boundary
Wall, Security Room, surface drains etc as required. He also stated that the
Section 63 of the Bye-Laws does not apply in this case.
Secretary stated that
modalities of execution of repair works as well as painting works were
explained in details in the Agenda Notes dated 31.08.2010 circulated to all the
Members prior to Special General Meeting (SGM)) held on 3rd October,
2010 vide Annexures B & C which were ratified in the said SGM with
necessary Resolution adopted by the General Body of our Society.
These issues were further
discussed in details in the Agenda Notes dated 30.09.2011 for the Half-Yearly
General Meeting held on 23.10.2011 and in the minutes of the said meeting
circulated to all the Members. Necessary Resolution approving the expenditure
of Rs. 8,50,000.00 was also duly approved by the General Body of our Society.
He further stated that for
supervision of Repair works, one Supervisor was engaged. Besides, for each
Block, one member was requested to volunteer his services. While the job was
nearing completion, it was repeatedly requested through Society Notice Boards
urging the members to point out any unattended places which were also duly
rectified.
Secretary stated that pattern
of the buildings are such that it involves much more labour component of the
cost compared to the material cost as will be evident from the Details of
Expenditure Statement furnished to the Members.
The measurement of the repair
works were not possible to be taken due to inaccessibility as well as due to
configuration of the damaged places. Naturally the practices which were adopted
by our Society on the previous occasions and also in our neighbouring Society
were followed. He stated that though the cost of scaffolding works are more or
less assessable, but the cost of actual repair works are virtually impossible
to assess in advance and it was also never done in our society before. However,
all records for deployment of labour and materials are available in the office
which are open for inspection by the members. He also mentioned that more
recently in 2009-10 prior to taking over of the present Board more than
Rs.90,000.00
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was spent for the Repair Works
and hardly any perceptible progress could be made in any one of the buildings.
This work was then abandoned.
Shri B.K.Ghosh stated that it is
debatable to which Secretary mentioned that all records in this connection are
available in the office. Secretary further stated that the expenditure incurred
for external repair works carried out by us in 2003-04 was
Rs.3,30,000.00(Approx.) for 11 buildings only without roof overhead tanks and
also excluding any common area against the scheduled estimate of Rs.2,67,670.00
only. The expenditure figure was reported in the Agenda Note of special General
Meeting held on 03.10.2010 vide Annexure-B. The escalation which has occurred
during these years does not need any mention.
Chairman stated that realizing
the complexity of the job and huge time being taken for repairs, in order to
reduce the execution time, in addition to departmental labours working on daily
wages basis who commenced their work on 13.03.2011, labour contractors were
further engaged on 15.04.2011 through a tender process followed by negotiation
by Tender Sub-Committee for the repair works of buildings 8,9,10 & 11 and
subsequently building no. 7 on 03.09.2011 (total value Rs.2,25,000.00),
materials being supplied by the Society free of cost in both the cases. Even
then the completion time took more than 7 months. All these facts were duly
brought to the notice of the General Body and were approved.
Dr.A.K.Paul (A-9/16) said that
for bypassing the tender process, work was splitted in this way which was
vehemently denied by the Chairman and the Secretary and stated that all the
facts and circumstances easily prove it.
Shri Swarup Ghosh (A- 7 / 1)
said that the supervision of repair works was not done properly and he could
not contact Secretary on a few occasions for registering his complaints.
Chairman said that a complaint
Register has been kept at the main gate which should be utilized. The said
Register is regularly reviewed.
Smt. Sanghamitra Roy (A- 10 /
15) said that some repair work at the ground floor of the building no. 10 below
office Notice Board is still remaining.
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Secretary stated that he had
personally inspected the spot and there is some salinity problem which will be
looked into. There is no repair problem as such there.
Shri B.K.Ghosh (A-11/9) again
said that there was no supervision for the repair works and the Board allowed
the money to go into the drain. No body from the Board of Directors excepting
Chairman & Secretary are devoting their time for the Society.
Secretary
said that he strongly objects to this view.
Shri Subhodeep Roy Chowdhury
(A-11/7) said that Shri B.K.Ghosh is harping on the same point again and again
unnecessarily. If we proceed in this manner we will not be able to finish the
meeting.
Shri Pratul Roychowdhury (A- 9
/ 8) mentioned briefly about the genesis of starting of the repair work
departmentally which was taken in the AGM. He said it was decided that one
member from each block would supervise the repair works which unfortunately did
not materialise. He said that it is true that there was some lack of
supervision, but considering the constraints of manpower no better supervision
was possible. He further said that such kind of repair works can never be
carried out as per Govt. Schedule of Rates as being mentioned by some members.
Mrs.Rupa Narayan (A- 6 /13)
complained about the location and low height of her Letter Box and requested to
put the same at a convenient height for her easy use.
Lt Col. A.K.Roychowdhury ( A-11
/ 16) said that during his tenure in the Board, the repair and painting works
were carried out within the estimated cost.
Shri Kushal Roy (A- 7 / 6) enquired
whether the road repairs were carried out during the tenure of this Board or
prior to that and if any warranty conditions exist for repairing the damages.
Secretary stated that the road
repairs were carried out prior to taking over of this Board and although 3
years warranty existed for this work, the said contractor never turned up on
our request to carry out the repairs of the
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damages. Ultimately, his
Security Deposit of Rs.15,000.00 has been forfeited by the present Board.
Shri Kushal Roy (A- 7 / 6)
wondered why ABP Pvt Ltd is not heeding to our request to clear the dues. He
said that Shri Siddhartha Roychowdhury, Director of the Board might be the
right person to pursue the matter.
He also said that there is a
need to fix a glowsign board at a conspicuous place near the main gate.
Secretary replied that the
matter is being looked into in view of the reluctance of the ABP Pvt Ltd. in
the matter.
After detailed deliberation,
the Secretary’s Report with Attachments
I to III was unanimously accepted which was proposed by Sri P.K.Ghosh (A-11 /
10) and seconded by Sri Nani Gopal Chatterjee (A-4 / 5).
Agenda No: 03
Excess Expenditure in respect of Painting Works
Shri Sadiquzzman (A- 8/ 14) said that as per Section
29 of the W.B.Co-operative Societies Act, 2006, such item can not be discussed
in the Annual General Meeting.
Secretary stated that as per Rule 136 of
W.B.Co-operative Service Rules 2011, such discussion can always be made in the
AGM.
Shri B.K.Ghosh ( A- 11 / 9) asked whether tender
notices for the painting works were published in the daily news papers in view
of the value of the work being more than five lakh rupees.
Shri Kushal Roy (A-7/6) also echoed the same view.
Secretary stated that the matter was discussed in details
and all modalities of tendering process, quality of paints etc. were finalized
and approved in the SGM held on 03.10.2010 and also in the Half-Yearly General
Meeting on 23.10.2011 by the General Body.
He stated that Painting Works were taken up after initially obtaining
quotations directly from five leading Paint Manufacturers like Berger Paints,
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Snowcem
Paints, ICI (Akzonobel), Asian Paints & Shalimar Paints and then as per
decision taken by the General Body, 3 paint companies offering 7 (seven) years
warranty on the exterior surfaces of Building blocks were shortlisted. These
Paint Companies were Berger Paints, ICI (Akzonobel) & Asian Paints.
Extensive Negotiations were held with
these three companies by the Technical & Tender Sub-Committee of our
Society and based on the recommendation of the Sub-Committee, Board finally
accepted the offer of Asian Paints Limited.
As per
Agreement the painting work is being done under the periodic supervision of
Asian Paints apart from our own supervision and the Asian Paints will offer a
seven year Performance Warranty on Apex Ultima which is being used on exterior
surfaces of all Residential Buildings including office Building and the
Security shed.
For economy in the painting works, a
judicious combination of the painting types have been selected for interior
surfaces and some not very important exterior surfaces.
Chairman said that as per Sec 28 of the
West Bengal Co-operative Societies Act 2006, final and ultimate authority of a
Co-operative Society vests in the general body of its members assembled in a
general meeting.
Even then, Sec 63 of the Bye Laws of our
Society also mentions that publishing in newspapers for awarding of the
contracts is not mandatory if it is permitted by the general body of members.
Moreover, Section 63 of the Bye-Laws does not include the repair & painting
work.
In the instant case, considering our
previous experience of the quality of painting works, selective tenders were
invited as per decision taken in the General Meeting from the three shortlisted
leading Paint Companies of the country and with the assistance of our Technical
& Tender Sub-Committee tenders were evaluated and finally approved by the
Board. This has ensured quality of the work and there should not be any cause
of concern now for alleged irregularity in the matter. This also saved a
considerable cost on newspaper advertisements which was unnecessary in the
present case.
Secretary also stated that where
comparison has been possible with nearly
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identical items available in the PWD
(WB) Schedule of Rates (2010) which covers almost 82% of our total estimated
cost, it has been found that our accepted rates are much more cheaper and
overall painting costs are definitely quite less in our case. Govt. and many
Housing Societies have also been following this tender procedure.
Shri B.K.Ghosh ( A-11/9) said that had
we gone for open tender we could have availed the part of the Dealer’s
discount.
Secretary said that it is not all true
and the Companies themselves for the sake of competition amongst themselves and
getting the job had passed on the maximum possible price benefits to us which
would be evident from their price bids. Moreover, it has ensured the genuinity
of paints being used for the work, warranty certificate for the job etc. The
rates at which the contract has been accepted can be easily compared with the
PWD Schedule of Rates and it will be amply clear.
Mrs.Nargis
Sattar Hossain ( A- 8 / 6) said that in some places painting was not done
properly.
Secretary
replied that he is aware of this fact and the site has already been inspected
by the Technical Expert of Asian Paints on a no of occasions and it has been
assured that such defects will be rectified before the completion of the works.
Excess Expenditure of Rs. 50,000.00 (approx.) in respect
of Painting Works was approved which was proposed by Shri Goutam Basu Thakur (
A- 1 / 2) and seconded by Shri Pratul Roychowdhury ( A- 9 / 8).
Secretary,
however, added that subject to final checking of the measurement of works, the
quantum of excess expenditure is likely to be less from the estimated tender
value.
Agenda No: 04
Approval of Budget for the
year 2012 – 13 & Programme of Activities for 2012-13
Shri B.K.Ghosh said that electricity charges has come
down consequent to laying of new water supply network but maintenance charges
have not decreased. He also opined that budget estimate of the Society is
increasing
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considerably compared to the previous Board’s tenure
and the members are being asked to pay more.
Chairman said that during 2009-10 (major part of the
tenure of the previous Board) an excess expenditure of Rs. 1,42,529.06 was
incurred over the budgeted expenditure which was highly objected during the
statutory audit of our Society. He further added that items which may be
curtailed now in the Budget Estimate may be pointed out so that the estimate
could be reduced.
Shri B.K.Ghosh (A- 11 / 9) said that it may be
considered whether the contribution for Employees’ Welfare Fund Scheme can be
increased to Rs.300.00 p.m. from the present rate of Rs.200.00 p.m. per
employee with matching contribution from the Society.
Shri Arunava Maitra (A- 4 / 1) supported the Budget
Estimate.
After detailed deliberation, Annual Budget & Programme
of Activities for 2012-2013 were unanimously approved which was proposed by
Shri P.K.Ghosh ( A- 11 / 10) and seconded by Shri Goutam Basu Thakur
(A- 1 / 2).
This was, however, subsequently slightly modified and approved by the General
Body after discussion on Agenda Nos.06 & 07.
Agenda
No: 06
Opening
of the 2nd Gate of the Society for Limited Hours
This
Item was discussed before Agenda No.05.
After detailed deliberation,
the item for recruiting additional security guard was withdrawn from the agenda
of discussion for the present.
Agenda No: 07
Funding for
Infrastructual Development and Special Maintenance Works
This Item was also discussed
before Agenda No. 05
Shri B.K.Ghosh (A- 11/ 9) said
that pumps are already more than 15 years old and replacement of at least one
pump is essential. He may help out in the matter.
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Secretary welcomed the idea and
said that Shri B.K.Ghosh was earlier inducted in the Advisory Committee of the Society
but he declined. He may now help us in the procurement of the pump. Shri Ghosh,
however, did not express further interest in the matter.
Shri P.K.Guha Biswas ( A- 5 /
3) , Shri Kushal Roy (A- 7 / 6), Shri Pratul Roychowdhury (A-9 / 8) and
Mr.H.K.Dutta (A- 9 / 7) suggested the need for fire fighting measures in the
Society.
Shri Arunava Maitra (A- 4/1)
suggested the need for emergency exit for evacuation during breaking of fire.
Chairman said that all these
aspects will be duly examined by the Board before coming back to the members.
After detailed deliberation, it
was finally decided that so far as infrastructural development is concerned,
these items will be considered in the Half-Yearly General Body Meeting. Only
procurement of a new distribution pump will be made for which necessary
provision will be made in the general budget.
Agenda
No: 05
Annual
Maintenance Charges on the members for the year 2012-13
The
Budget of the Society was slightly modified in view of the discussion on Agenda
Nos. 06 & 07.
The
provision on Security Charges was reduced due to postponement of opening of the
2nd Gate and Rs. 30,000.00 was added against Pump & Tubewell for
the purchase of a New Pump.
After
incorporating these modifications, the budget estimate for 2012-13 amounting to
Rs. 13,60,050.00 was finally approved which was proposed by Shri P.K.Ghosh
(A-11/10) and seconded by Shri Goutam Basu Thakur
(A-1/2).
After
deliberation, Shri Goutam Basu Thakur (A-1 / 2) then proposed the Annual
Maintenance Charges for the year 2012-13 placed before the house
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for
acceptance which was seconded by Shri Nani Gopal Chatterjee (A-4 / 5) and the
Resolution adopted as following:
“Resolved that Annual
Maintenance Charge of Rs. 1,850.00 for the year 2012-13 with effect from
01.04.2012 be paid by Members either one time within 31st August,
2012 or in two instalments of Rs. 1,200.00 by 31st August ,2012
& Rs. 650.00 by 30th
November 2012 and interest @ 2% per month would be payable for delayed
payment”.
Agenda No. 08
Report of the Internal Audit
of the Society for 2011-12 & Actions being taken
The House thanked Shri Dilip Kumar Mukhopadhyay ( A- 3/7) for carrying
out the Internal Audit of the Society for the first time in the Society in a
very commendable way.
Chairman assured the General Body that the
compliance of the Internal Audit Observations will be made in true spirit and
already actions have been started to be taken in this regard.
Chairman proposed to record appreciation to Shir
Dilip Kumar Mukhopadhyay for his services as Internal Auditor of our Society
which was approved by all.
Agenda No.09
Appointment of Internal
Auditor for 2012-13
The House approved the appointment of Shri Dilip
Kumar Mukhopadhyay (A-3/7) as Internal Auditor for 2012-13 with his consent and
the following Resolution was adopted:
“Resolved that Shri Dilip
Kumar Mukhopadhyay be appointed as Internal Auditor of the Society for 2012-13
which is renewable for extended terms of one year each at the consideration in
the AGM. The Internal Auditor’s observations shall be placed before the General
Body by the B.O.D.and before the regular External Auditor appointed for the
Statutory Audit of the Society. Any contingent expenditure in this connection
will be done under the supervision of the Board of Directors.”
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Agenda No. 10
Consideration of any other
matter which may forwarded in accordance with Bye Laws with the approval of
Chairman
Secretary proposed that due to increasing cost of
papers, stationery and xeroxing charges, it is advisable to go for e-mode of
communication to the members as is being done in most of the establishments
now.
After discussion the proposal was accepted and it was decided that
members may be requested to furnish their e-mail IDs as early as possible and
after receipt of the same from most of the members, the same may be introduced
in future.
The important notifications, minutes of the General Body Meetings etc.
will be continued to be put up at the website of the Society
www.hnchsl.blogspot.com
as usual.
Secretary mentioned that two letters dated 15.03.2012 & 24.04.2012
were received from Mr.Ranjan Chatterjee (A- 8 / 16). Board had sent replies of
these letters to Mr.Chatterjee. As per
request of Mr.Chatterjee, his two letters alongwith the replies of the Board
have been distributed to the member at the time of commencement of this meeting
for their kind perusal and comments, if any.
Chairman gave heartiest thanks to the members for
their cooperation in conducting the meeting properly & the meeting ended
with vote of thanks to and from the Chair.
(Biswatosh Sarkar) (Benudhar Munshi)
Secretary
Chairman
12.06.2012
12.06.2012
