Governing Body:
President: Dr.M.R.Seetharam
Vice President: Dr.K.N.Chandrashekar
Secretary: Dr.Bindu Balasubramaniam
Treasurer: Dr.Sudheer B. Bangalore
Joint Secretary: Ms.Malathi H.D.
Executive Members: Dr.Kumar G.S., Dr.Meghana Rao
Chief Executive Officer: Dr.(Flt Lt) M.A.Balasubramanya
Saturday, March 13, 2010
(46) Getting introduced to MSSV & Co.
As mentioned in my previous post, Mr.Krishnamurthy prepared our balance sheet for the year ending Dec 1986 too. The total revenues were around Rs.11,000. Our projects included running the weekly dispensary at Thumnerale, arranging for blood donations for patients in K.R.Hospital, collecting physician samples from doctors in MMC and distributing them to poor patients at the hospital and arranging lectures for medical students on mostly non-medical topics. Those were indeed days of extraordinary excitement, learning and adventure. Each day would hold something new and the sense of togetherness and camaraderie was extraordinary. The lack of management experience was a blessing and the learning challenges kept us vibrant and involved.
I think it was after 1986 that the Income Tax department made it mandatory for all organizations to follow April to March as the financial year, commonly across India. The next balance sheet was for 15 months and our revenues for this period was around Rs.22,000. We were indeed making progress both in terms of our activities and in reaching out to more supporters and well-wishers. Pushpalatha and Sumana (who currently advises SVYM on legal issues and is a social activist) were mainly responsible for this increased revenue. They had worked tirelessly together in bringing out a Souvenir and most of the money came in through advertisements. Pushpalatha was a very active member and the Secretary of SVYM at that time. The foundations of future SVYM was strongly laid by people like Pushpalatha, K.N.Chandrashekar, Chandrappa, Devaraj and others who worked with so much of commitment and dedication.
By August 1987, I had moved to Brahmagiri and had established a good rapport with the Shankaracharya of Kanchi. During one of our conversations, I had told him about our need for a Chartered Accountant. A few months later, Mr.Sundarajan, a partner at MSSV & Co (a reputed Chartered Accountants firm in Bangalore) suddenly dropped in to Brahmagiri along with the coordinator of Jan Kalyan, a social welfare movement initiated by the Shankaracharya. Sundarajan offered to have our accounts audited free of cost and advised me on how to officially appoint his firm as our Auditors and on the paperwork needed to make this shift from Mr.Krishnamurthy.
After the financial year came to a close, Sundarajan informed me that one of his junior partners, Mr.D.R.Venkatesh, would visit our project, stay with us for a few days and finalize our accounts. On the day of his arrival, I went to receive him at Hand Post (the busy junction near H.D.Kote) and bring him to Brahmagiri. After waiting for him in vain for about 3 hours, I returned to Brahmagiri. It was around 9 pm or so when I heard some tribals knocking on my door. They had found somebody walking alone in the forest at that hour, looking for me and they had brought him to my modest dwelling.
It was Venkatesh! He had arrived late at Handpost, waited for sometime and realized that I had either not come or possibly left. After talking to a few people and exploring options, he was planning to return to Bangalore when he found a truck driver who offered to drop him near Brahmagiri. He took this offer and alighted at Jakkahalli and started walking towards Brahmagiri. As he was walking along, he had met these kind-hearted tribals who brought him to my place. Little had he realized that he had been walking through elephant territory!
Venkatesh fondly recalls those initial days even today. He and MSSV are our staunch supporters even to this day and they continue to audit our accounts without expectation of any audit fees.
- Balu
I think it was after 1986 that the Income Tax department made it mandatory for all organizations to follow April to March as the financial year, commonly across India. The next balance sheet was for 15 months and our revenues for this period was around Rs.22,000. We were indeed making progress both in terms of our activities and in reaching out to more supporters and well-wishers. Pushpalatha and Sumana (who currently advises SVYM on legal issues and is a social activist) were mainly responsible for this increased revenue. They had worked tirelessly together in bringing out a Souvenir and most of the money came in through advertisements. Pushpalatha was a very active member and the Secretary of SVYM at that time. The foundations of future SVYM was strongly laid by people like Pushpalatha, K.N.Chandrashekar, Chandrappa, Devaraj and others who worked with so much of commitment and dedication.
By August 1987, I had moved to Brahmagiri and had established a good rapport with the Shankaracharya of Kanchi. During one of our conversations, I had told him about our need for a Chartered Accountant. A few months later, Mr.Sundarajan, a partner at MSSV & Co (a reputed Chartered Accountants firm in Bangalore) suddenly dropped in to Brahmagiri along with the coordinator of Jan Kalyan, a social welfare movement initiated by the Shankaracharya. Sundarajan offered to have our accounts audited free of cost and advised me on how to officially appoint his firm as our Auditors and on the paperwork needed to make this shift from Mr.Krishnamurthy.
After the financial year came to a close, Sundarajan informed me that one of his junior partners, Mr.D.R.Venkatesh, would visit our project, stay with us for a few days and finalize our accounts. On the day of his arrival, I went to receive him at Hand Post (the busy junction near H.D.Kote) and bring him to Brahmagiri. After waiting for him in vain for about 3 hours, I returned to Brahmagiri. It was around 9 pm or so when I heard some tribals knocking on my door. They had found somebody walking alone in the forest at that hour, looking for me and they had brought him to my modest dwelling.
It was Venkatesh! He had arrived late at Handpost, waited for sometime and realized that I had either not come or possibly left. After talking to a few people and exploring options, he was planning to return to Bangalore when he found a truck driver who offered to drop him near Brahmagiri. He took this offer and alighted at Jakkahalli and started walking towards Brahmagiri. As he was walking along, he had met these kind-hearted tribals who brought him to my place. Little had he realized that he had been walking through elephant territory!
Venkatesh fondly recalls those initial days even today. He and MSSV are our staunch supporters even to this day and they continue to audit our accounts without expectation of any audit fees.
- Balu
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Vignana Mela 2010
To commemorate the National Science Day, SVYM had organized an event called 'Vignana Mela' at Saragur on 06-Mar. It was inaugurated by Mr.Karigowda, Block Education Officer of H.D.Kote Taluk, in the presence of Dr.Seetharam, President - SVYM. The science exhibition and science quiz were the major attractions of the event. About 210 science models were put on display at the exhibition by the enthusiastic students. And 40 teams participated in the quiz with great gusto!
On this occasion, a 'Science Calendar' - outlining events to be conducted in schools during the academic year 2010-11, was released and distributed to the schools. A question bank for the upcoming 10th Std board exams was also released. The Nairmalya Vahini team of SVYM had set up a stall at the venue to create awareness about hygiene and sanitation issues. Students from Viveka School of Excellence, Saragur bagged the top spots in all the competitions conducted on the day. The Dept of Education and DSERT lent their support for organizing this program.
On this occasion, a 'Science Calendar' - outlining events to be conducted in schools during the academic year 2010-11, was released and distributed to the schools. A question bank for the upcoming 10th Std board exams was also released. The Nairmalya Vahini team of SVYM had set up a stall at the venue to create awareness about hygiene and sanitation issues. Students from Viveka School of Excellence, Saragur bagged the top spots in all the competitions conducted on the day. The Dept of Education and DSERT lent their support for organizing this program.
Students thronging the exhibition stalls
The winners - students from Viveka School of Excellence
International Women's Day celebrated...
To mark the 100th International Women's Day, a quiz competition was held at VILD for the students of the Masters in Non-Profit Management (MNPM) course on 08-Mar. The theme of the quiz was 'The first Indian woman in different fields'. Dr.Rajan, Joint Director (Admin), VILD conducted the quiz and the third semester students emerged victors after a tough battle with the first and second semester students.
In the evening, Mrs.Meera Nayak, founder member of Samatha Vedike, Mysore gave a talk on 'Significance of Women's Day in today's context' to the students and other staff of VILD. Later, prizes were distributed to the winners of the quiz competition. The program was arranged and coordinated by the faculty of the MNPM department, namely Dr.Ananth Panth, Ms.Roopa Bernardiner and Ms.Vineetha.
In the evening, Mrs.Meera Nayak, founder member of Samatha Vedike, Mysore gave a talk on 'Significance of Women's Day in today's context' to the students and other staff of VILD. Later, prizes were distributed to the winners of the quiz competition. The program was arranged and coordinated by the faculty of the MNPM department, namely Dr.Ananth Panth, Ms.Roopa Bernardiner and Ms.Vineetha.
Monday, March 8, 2010
(45) Our first Chartered Accountant...
Registering SVYM as a formal society was only one part of the story. Running it was totally another. At age 19, you do not know any business management principles (not that you know it at a later age either!) and you pick up as you go along. We had completed more than a year of existence. In those days, one could close accounts based on the financial year declared by the organization and we had made the calendar year our financial year.
It was around January 1986 and I had to figure out how to get our accounts audited and how to submit the returns to the Registrar of Societies and Income Tax department. Before all this, I had to find a Chartered Accountant who would be willing to have our accounts audited gratis. I had been to Bangalore for a few days break and I suddenly recalled that my neighbour, Mr.Krishnamurthy was a Chartered Accountant. He was a Sri Lankan tamil who had settled in India. I approached him for help and he was not only willing to do it for free but also was very supportive and helpful. When I produced the accounts that I had maintained for the year, he could not help laughing. He told me that what I had written down (meticulously, I thought) was nothing more than a petty cash book and books of accounts was something very different. He then set about educating me on credit and debit, on cash vs accrual systems, on single entry vs double entry and the basics of posting ledger entries. He not only trained me in the basics, but also was gracious enough in having the 13 months accounts re-written. And our total revenue then was a princely sum of around Rs.7700!
Krishnamurthy helped audit our next balance sheet too and he remains my neighbour and friend even today.
- Balu
It was around January 1986 and I had to figure out how to get our accounts audited and how to submit the returns to the Registrar of Societies and Income Tax department. Before all this, I had to find a Chartered Accountant who would be willing to have our accounts audited gratis. I had been to Bangalore for a few days break and I suddenly recalled that my neighbour, Mr.Krishnamurthy was a Chartered Accountant. He was a Sri Lankan tamil who had settled in India. I approached him for help and he was not only willing to do it for free but also was very supportive and helpful. When I produced the accounts that I had maintained for the year, he could not help laughing. He told me that what I had written down (meticulously, I thought) was nothing more than a petty cash book and books of accounts was something very different. He then set about educating me on credit and debit, on cash vs accrual systems, on single entry vs double entry and the basics of posting ledger entries. He not only trained me in the basics, but also was gracious enough in having the 13 months accounts re-written. And our total revenue then was a princely sum of around Rs.7700!
Krishnamurthy helped audit our next balance sheet too and he remains my neighbour and friend even today.
- Balu
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Award for SVYM's Annual Report
SVYM has bagged the CSO Partners' Outstanding Annual Report Award for the second year running. SVYM was adjudged the first runner-up in the 'large organizations' category this year. Dr.Anil received the award on behalf of the organization at a function held at New Delhi on 06-March. The award was presented by CA Amarjit Chopra, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
Last year's report here.
Last year's report here.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Balu in conversation with Peter Eigen, Founder of Transparency International
Thanks to:
Humanitarian and Development NGOs Domain
The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Harvard University (http://hausercenter.org)
Humanitarian and Development NGOs Domain
The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Harvard University (http://hausercenter.org)
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