CONSTITUTION

CONSTITUTION

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 SECTION 1: The name of the Union shall be Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ).

SECTION 2: THE AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE UNION SHALL BE:

1. A) To organize working journalists in the state of Arunachal Pradesh into a united force.
2. B) To promote and defined the status and interests of working journalists with regard to wages, conditions of employment, tenure of service and all other matters relating to the practice of journalism.
3. C) To strive for freedom of the Press.
4. D) To deal effectively with employers and the government to secure the collective economic and professional interests of working journalists.
5. D) To build up funds for the provision of legal aid, unemployment benefit and relief to working journalists as well as the pursuit of the aims objectives of the Union.
6. E) To maintain and promote the highest standards of professional conduct and integrity.
7. F) To strive to secure the right to information as a fundamental right and ensure freedom of expression, safeguarding it from encroachments from any quarter.
8. G) To combat communalism, racism, gender and anti-working class biases in the press.
9. H) To conduct the affairs of the union on professional and Trade union lines and to forge organic links with like-minded organizations of newspaper employees, including non-journalist employees of newspaper publishing houses.
10. I) To secure the representation of the Union on various committees and bodies set up in particular by the Government connected to the profession of journalism.

(J) To conduct the affairs of the Union and its constituent units on professional and trade union lines and to forge organic links with like-minded journalistic organizations.

1. K) To publish an annual official journal of the union.

 

SECTION 3: MEMBERSHIP

1. A) Subject to the provisions of the Trade Union Act, the membership of the union shall be open only to those persons designated as journalists under the working Journalists Act, 1955, as amended from time to time.
2. B) Part-time correspondents whose principal avocation is that of journalism. Provided, however, that they produce proof in this behalf in terms of receipt of remuneration or letter of appointment etc.
3. C) Working Journalists of the following categories working in electronic media especially in TV news channels, whose nature of work is that of a working journalist as defined in the Working Journalists’ Act 1955.
4. D) Staff Reporter and Part-time Reporters, editors and sub-editors in the editorial department.       
5. E) Camera Persons working in newsgathering and production departments.
6. F) News Coordinators working in in-put and out-put departments discharging duties related to news gathering and news production.
7. G) News Presenters and Anchors presenting news and current affairs programs.
8. H) Photojournalists, freelancers, web portal journalists (online) whose principal avocation is journalism.
9. I) Proprietors and Directors or Managing Editors and other persons having proprietary interests shall not be eligible for membership. However, those who do not employ any other person on their editorial staff shall not be barred, provided he can prove that his principal avocation is journalism. However, in case of any complaint received against the concerned member, the issue will be examined by the President and executive members on a case-by-case basis. If found guilty, s/he will cease to be a member of the Union.

  MEMBERSHIP SHALL BE OF THREE CATEGORIES:

(i)        ORDINARY MEMBER:   Persons qualified under Section 3 and working as Journalist at least for three years. However, a person who enrols himself/herself as a member of the Union shall not have voting right for five years from the date of enrolment.

 

(ii)      ASSOCIATE MEMBERS: Self-employed editors shall be admitted as Associate Members without voting right. But they can participate in all meetings of the Union, including State and District Unit conferences of which they are members.

 

(iii)      HONORARY MEMBERS: Working Journalists who retire from service after outstanding service to the union, profession and to the cause of working journalists can be conferred honorary membership by the executive committee of the union.

The Honorary members shall not have to pay any membership fee. They shall be eligible to attend the annual conference of the Union or the District Unit, of which they are members, but they shall have no voting right nor shall they hold any elective post. The President of the Union or the President of the District Unit can nominate any such Honorary Member.

To be a member of the union, the person shall have to apply for membership through union (APUWJ) membership’s form attached with personal details and relevant documents of his organisation. The membership form can be submitted either by email or hard copy. The President in consultation with general secretary and other senior members will examine the application within fifteen days and shall be communicated to person in concerned after the verification of his/her application.

SECTION 4: FEES

1. A) A person eligible to become a member may be admitted, at the discretion of executive committee, on payment of the prescribed annual fee plus an admission fee Rs100/-(One hundred).
2. B) The annual membership fee shall be Rs100/-(One hundred). These fees shall be computed for the calendar year in which the fees are paid and shall fall due on January every year. Members are further liable to pay any special fees that maybe by a resolution of the general body for unemployment benefit, strike fund, or other similar purposes in furtherance of the aims and objectives of the union.
3. C) A member who fails to pay his/her subscription within two months from the expiry of the period to which it relates shall cease to a member unless he is exempted from such payment by the executive committee.

SECTION 5: GENERAL BODY MEETINGS AND RESOLUTIONS

A) The annual meeting of the general body of members ordinary held on any suitable day in the month of September every year.

B) The annual meeting shall consider and adopt the report of the previous year, pass the accounts, elect the executive committee and the president and consider any other matter of which due notice has been given.

C) A meeting of the general body shall require at least 30 days notice except when a meeting has been adjourned in which case a fortnight’s notice will suffice.

D) A meeting of the general body may be called by the executive committee whenever it deems necessary to do so or by the general secretary, hereinafter mentioned, in terms of a requisition by members as provided hereinafter.

E) The general secretary shall convene general body meeting within 30 days of such a requisition for purposes specified in the requisition and signed by its members on the rolls.

F) Notice of amendments to the business for which a general body meeting has been called must be given at least seven days notice before the meeting.

G) Resolutions regarding other business which a member may desire to take up would also require at least seven days notice. 

H) Subjects to exceptions, hereinafter provided, for, all questions shall be decided at any general body meeting by the majority vote, exercising one vote, provided that in case of a tie, the person presiding over the meeting shall have a casting vote.

I) The following items shall require a two-thirds majority vote:

1. All amendments to the constitution
2. The levy of any special fee.
3. No confidence resolutions.
4. The quorum for a general body meeting shall be one-third of the members on the roll provided that meetings adjourned for half an hour for want of quorum require no quorum.

SECTION 6: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

A) All eligible voters will elect the president and secretary general of the Union for a period of no more than three years and the date of the election should not lapse the second week of September.

B) The president and secretary general shall select the vice president, assistant general secretary, information and publicity secretary, assistant information and publicity secretary, auditor, treasurer, office secretary, assistant office secretary, and joint secretaries from among the members. Subject to the terms of the constitution and the resolutions and directions of the general body, the executive committee shall have the right to frame rules concerning the following matters and to alter or amend the same.

1. Procedure and/or suspension or removal of members.
2. Various duties and functions of office bearers.
3. Procedure for calling meetings, holding elections and taking ballots.
4. Administration of benefit funds.
5. Procedure for its functioning.
6. For all cognate matters regarding day to day administration of the union between general body meetings.

C) Such roles and amendments shall be placed before the next general body meeting and be subject to its approval or amendment. Subject to the supervision and control of the general body, the executive committee shall be responsible for the administration of funds, their allocation for various purposes. The executive committee shall meet as often as necessary.

Casual vacancies on the executive committee, including that of a president, a general secretary or treasurer, shall be filled by the executive committee byduring a general body meeting. The quorum for an executive committee meeting shall be one-third provided no quorum shall be needed for a meeting adjourned for 15 minutes for a quorum.

The executive committee or any of its members are liable to be removed by a vote of no-confidence at a meeting of the general body specially requisitioned for the purpose. Any member of the executive committee who is absent for three consecutive meetings without obtaining leave of absence from the committee shall be deemed to have ceased to be a member of the executive committee.

D) Additionally, the Executive Committee will also appoint members to the State Executive Council(SEC) comprising of five senior members who have completed a minimum of 12 years in journalism. The Council’s role and jurisdiction are as under:

1. Where the constitution is silent or where a point of dispute arises, the decision of state executive council shall prevail, provided the points in dispute are submitted for final decision of the delegates meeting.
2. The state executive council shall have power to adjudicate on any matter of dispute related to the Unionand any award given by the council shall be final and binding on the state units concerned subject to decision of the delegate session on appeal.
3. The council may suspend or dissolve a state executive committee or disaffiliate it where it is satisfied that it has been persistently acting contrary against the provision of the constitution or against the interest of the union or has created such condition as has made the working of the union difficult.
4. The state executive council shall have the power to suspend any member of the Union or its units for conduct detrimental to the interest of the profession or the union and its affiliate units, subject to the approval of the delegates’ conference.
5. The State Executive Council will act as guiding force of Executive Committee in any major decision-making.

SECTION 7: DUTIES FUNCTIONS OF OFFICE BEARER’S

1) President:

The president shall preside over all meetings of the union, the general body and the executive committee, preserve order, signs all minutes. He shall have the power to call special meetings of the executive committee if necessary to do so. He shall have the privilege of casting vote. He/she can attend the meetings of various committees and sub-committees except unless specially invited, those of the Disciplinary-cum-Credentials Committee.

Eligibility:- 

i) To be a President of the union, he/she shall have experience of a minimum of seven years in the profession and his principle avocation should be journalism.

ii) He/she shall have to be a member or former member of the state executive members or national executive committee.

iii) He/ She should be free from any prejudicial charges or offences. 

2) Vice-president:

In the absence of the president, the vice-president shall preside over all meeting of the union, the general body and the executive committee, preserve order and sing all minutes and have the privilege of casting vote whenever s/he is in the chair.To be a vice-president of the union, he/she shall have experience of a minimum of seven years in the profession and his/her principle avocation should be journalism.

3) General Secretary:

a) The General Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings, conduct all correspondence, convene all meetings, exercise supervision over the affairs and activities of the union, prepare all reports and shall be responsible submitting to the register of trade union all returns and notices required by the trade union act.

b) The general secretary may, in consultation with the president and subject to the approval or confirmation of the executive committee, obtain any assistance that is deemed necessary for the union.

Eligibility:- 

i) To be a General Secretary of the union, he/she shall have experience of a minimum of seven years in the profession and his principle avocation should be journalism.

ii) He/she shall have to be a member or former member of the state executive or national executive committee.

iii) He/ She should be free from any prejudicial charges or offences. 

4) Assistant General Secretary:

The assistant general secretary shall assist the general secretary in the discharge of his/her duties. To be an assistant general secretary of the union, he/she shall have experience of a minimum of five years in the profession and his principle avocation should be journalism.

5) IPR Secretary:

The IPR secretary shall be in charge of publicity-related works of the Union.

6) Assistant IPR Secretary:

He/she shall assist the IPR Secretary.

7) Office Secretary:

He/she shall be assigned specific duties with regard to office-related work of the union.

8) Assistant Office Secretary:

He/she shall assist the Office Secretary.

9) Treasurer:

The treasurer shall be responsible for all sums of money which may from time to time be paid into the union and for duly banking them. He /she shall keep all accounts, get them audited and prepare the annual balance sheet. He/she shall make payments toward all expenditure sanctioned by the executive committee and sing all receipts. In his absence, he/she shall delegate his/her powers to the general secretary.

10)Auditor:

 The auditor will be responsible for all financial audits of the Union.

11) Joint secretary:

Additionally, the President in due consultation of general secretary will also appoint joint secretaries of the Union who will be charged with and assigned districts to look after the affairs of the Union in their respective districts.                                                                                                     12. Gender Council. The Gender Council of the union will be headed by the Convenor to look after gender related issues. Such as sexual harassment, discrimination and exploitation female journalist, including unequal pay and maternity leaves etc. The gender council convenor shall report to the union President after such mentioned cases arise.  

 

SECTION-8: PROCEDURE FOR CALLING MEETING:

a) Notice of a general meeting shall be sent to every member individually.

b) Meeting of the executive body shall ordinarily require one week notice, an emergency meeting, when required, shall not be less than 24 hours notice.

SECTION-9: AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTION:

The constitution cannot be altered, amended or added to except by the general body by a two-thirds majority of votes of members present at the meeting called for the purpose.

SECTION-10: ELECTIONS:

a) Election of the president and the general secretary of the executive committee shall be by secret ballot.

b) Members list for elections shall be prepared and displayed on the union’s notice board for scrutiny at least 30 days before the date of elections.

c) A member shall be eligible to vote only if he/she cleared all dues within seven clear days before the day of elections and before 3 pm on any working day.

d) Candidates for elections would have to be duly proposed and seconded by bonafide members in prescribed forms, which shall be numbered.

e) Each member shall have the right to cast as many votes as there are posts but shall no cast more than one vote to each candidate. The total number of votes cast may be less than the numbers of posts but not more.

f) The dates for the nomination, scrutiny withdrawal or acceptance of nominations shall be announced on the day the members’ list is displayed on the union notice board.

g) A member who is not contesting any post in the year concerned and has not proposed or seconded the name of any candidate in the year concerned shall be appointed by the executive committee to oversee the electoral process. He/she will be the returning officer who will scrutinize nominations, check the voters’ list, cannot the poll and announce the results.

h) While the president will be elected directly by the general body. The elected members of the executive committee will elect the vice-president, general secretary, joint secretary and treasurer from amongst themselves at their meeting which should take place within 15 days of the annual general body meeting. 

SECTION 11: FUNDS

a) The general funds of the union shall consist of subscription fees from members, special funds, donations and revenues of the Press Club

b) These funds shall be deposited in a nationalized bank or banks approved by the executive committee in the name of the union and the accounts shall be operated by the treasurer jointly with the president or the general secretary.

c) The treasurer shall not keep with him/her more than Rs.5000 (five thousand) in cash for minor expenses.

d) The union’s funds shall not be spent on any account other than the following:

1. Salaries, allowances, expenses and other legal dues of the staff.
2. Administrative and travelling expenses of the office bearers and National Council Members as approved by the Executive Members.
3. Conduct of any trade dispute or agitation on behalf of the union, or any of its members.
4. Publication of union journal or booklets on subjects/issues affecting the interests of the union and its members.
5. Promoting the aims and objectives of the union.
7. The general secretary shall consult the president on all expenditure and report details of all expenditure and report details of all expenditure to the executive committee.
8. f) Helping working journalists or their families in distress especially during a medical emergency.

 

SECTION 12: ANNUAL AUDIT

The union shall make provisions for the annual audit of the accounts of the union by an auditor appointed by the executive committee in accordance with the provisions of the ITU Act. 

The Union accounts shall be audited by two members of the union, who are not members of the Executive, once in three months. The report of the Internal Auditors along with their remarks shall be placed before the next Executive Meeting. The balance sheet and the income and expenditure statement as audited by a Chartered Accountant shall be placed before the Annual Meeting for ratification.

a) The Union shall facilitate the officer and member for inspection.

13. DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE

 Disciplinary Committee will be comprised of seven senior members including President and General Secretary whose experience in the journalism profession should not be less than seven years. The disciplinary committee will be chaired by the President of the union. In case of against on the misdeeds of the President, the General Secretary or Senior member will chair the committee. 

a) Any member or affiliated body shall be liable to disciplinary action by the Disciplinary Committee of the union is in case of:

i) Default of payment

ii) Criminal breach of trust

iii) Defiance of any resolution or a directive of delegates conference, the Executive Committee of the union.

iv) Any activity or utterance prejudicial to the interest of the union or the activities serving the employers as against the interest of employees.

v) A member against whom there is a complaint of indiscipline shall be given a charge- sheet in the writing by the Disciplinary Committee and shall be asked to submit written explanation. He/ She shall have the right to address the Disciplinary Committee on the subject if he so desires. The Disciplinary Committee shall decide after hearing the member concerned.

vi) In case a member is found guilty by the disciplinary committee, his/her membership shall be stand cancelled. 

vii) Complaints of behaviour not conforming to journalistic ethics.

SECTION 14: DISSOLUTION OF THE UNION

a) The union shall not be dissolved except by the three-fourth majority of voters of members present at the general body meeting called for the purpose, provided that the total numbers of votes cast at such a meeting is not less than two-thirds of the total numbers on the rolls.

b) The funds of the union, after meeting all the liabilities, shall be disposed of in accordance with the decision of the meeting called for the dissolution.

SECTION 15: AFFILIATION

The union shall be affiliated to the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) which has its registered office at Flat-29, New Central Market (Shankar Market), Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001.