STUDENTS’ GYMKHANA COUNCIL

CONSTITUTION

Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati

2016
Index

1. Introduction 2
2. IIITG Students’ Gymkhana Council Constitution 2
i. Preamble 2

ii. Part I: Definitions 3

iii. Part II: The Students’ Council 3

iv. Part III: Procedures and Tenure 5

v. Part IV: The General Body and its Processes 6

Appendices
i. Appendix I: Rules and Procedures for conducting Students’
Gymkhana Council Elections 8

ii. Appendix II: Procedure for the conduct of General Body

Meeting 11

iii. Appendix III: Organogram of the Students’ Gymkhana

Council 13
1. Introduction
In order to create an association between administration and students and
also to promote various activities in Indian Institute of Information Technology
Guwahati, the institute is constituting a Students’ Gymkhana Council. This
Council will foster and promote technical, cultural, sports and welfare
activities in the institute.
The Students’ Gymkhana Council will comprise of a President, a Vice-
President and four General Secretaries to Technical Board, Cultural Board,
Sports Board and Welfare Board.
Each Board will promote related activities such as well being of the students,
co-curricular activities (dance, music, drama, debate, sports, technical
activities, etc), and grooming of other skills. These boards will work form
clubs as per requirement and need.
In respect to the smooth functioning of the Students’ Gymkhana Council, a
Constitution has been prepared which will govern the activities of the office-
bearers of the Council.

IIITG Students’ Gymkhana Council Constitution

i. PREAMBLE
The Students’ Gymkhana Council of Indian Institute of Information Technology Guwahati
shall be an elected body of representatives. The Council shall have the following aims and
objectives:

 The Council shall strive to live up to the important role students have to play in the
development of the institute.
 The Council shall endeavour to foster and promote academic, technical, cultural,
sports and welfare activities in the institute.
 The Council shall endeavour to raise common grievances and demands of students
with competent authorities.
 The Council shall promote and safeguard the genuine interests of the student
community and monitor the maintenance of infrastructure provided by the
institute.
 In order to achieve the above mentioned aims and objectives, the Council will form
various clubs and other associations under it.

ii. PART I: DEFINITIONS

Article 1.
1. Students’ Gymkhana
The Students’ Gymkhana comprises of all the students of the Institute.
2. Students
  Full-time: Any person who is on the rolls of the institute for a full-time course will
be deemed a full-time student.
 Part-time: Any person who is on the rolls of the institute for a part-time course, will
be deemed a part-time student.
3. The Students Gymkhana Council:
The Students’ Gymkhana Council shall consist of the following six office bearers: President,
Vice-President and General Secretaries to Technical Board, Cultural Board, Sports Board
and Welfare Board.
4. The Council
Unless otherwise stated, “Council” will mean the “Students’ Gymkhana Council”.
5. The Faculty Advisory Board
It comprises of faculty who oversee the Council’s activitites.
iii. PART-II: THE STUDENTS’ GYMKHANA COUNCIL
Article 2. Function of the Students’ Gymkhana Council:
 The Council shall work as a body where all policy matters concerning the students
will be discussed and decisions taken thereon.
 All proposals to be made to the Institute will be examined and approved by the
Council. All such proposals will be sent to the Faculty Advisory Board.
 The budget allocated to the Council will be allocated to different Boards and to
different activities by the Council. The budget has to be sent to the Faculty Advisory
Board for approval.
Article 3: Sessions and Quorum
 The Students’ Council will be in session at least once a month. However, the Vice-
President and General Secretaries to various boards in consultation with the
President can call a special session whenever they feel it necessary.
 Half of the total number of the members of the Council will constitute the Quorum
for the meetings provided President/ Vice President is one of the members of the
Quorum.
 The President shall chair the meetings of the Council. In the absence of the
President, the Vice-President shall chair the meeting. In the absence of both
President and Vice-President, the Council will elect a chairperson from among
themselves.
Article 4. Decisions in the Council
 In everyday matters of the Council, the decision will be taken by a simple majority
present and voting.
 In case of deadlock in taking the decision (where the council is divided equally), then
the President shall have an extra casting vote.
  In matters pertaining to ‘No-confidence motion’ raised against any elected
representative in the Student’s Council, the Council shall decide whether to place
the motion before the General Body (Article 13 and Appendix II below). Such a
motion can raised by any of the six elected representatives provided that the Faculty
Advisory Board is informed about it.
Article 5. Nature of Posts and Duties
President
 There will be a President directly elected by students of the institute in the manner
outlined in the Constitution.
 The President’s post shall be open for the students of all undergraduate batches of
first, second, third year, first year of M.Tech, and PhD Students only.
 The term of office of President shall be 1 year.
 The President shall be the chief executive of the Union. He/ she shall chair the
meetings of the Students’ Council and participate in its deliberations. The President
shall execute the mandate given by the Students’ Council and look after the day to
day work of the Council.
Article 6.
Vice-President
 There will be a Vice-President directly elected by students of the institute in the
manner outlined in the Constitution.
 The Vice-President’s post shall be open for the students of all undergraduate batches
of first, second, third year, first year of M.Tech, and PhD Students only.
 The term of the Vice-President will be 1 year.
 The Vice-President will aid and advice the President in his/ her day to day work. He/
she will officiate as the President in the absence of the President.
Article 7.
General Secretary
There will be a four General Secretaries; one each to Technical Board, Cultural Board,
Sports Board and Welfare Board elected by students of the institute in the manner outlined
in the Constitution. The term of the General Secretaries shall be for 1 year.
 The posts for General Secretary to Technical, Cultural and Sports Boards shall be
open for the students of all undergraduate batches of first, second and third year
only.
 The post for General Secretary to Welfare Board shall be reserved for PhD scholars.
 The General Secretary to Technical Board, Cultural Board, Sports Board and
Welfare Board shall aid and advice the President in his/ her day to day work.
 He/ she in consultation with the President and Vice President, will be responsible
for calling the regular meeting of the Students’ Council and keeping the record of
minutes of the meeting and activities of the concerned board.

iv. PART III: PROCEDURES AND TENURE

Article 9. Elections
 The election for new office-bearers of the Students’ Gymkhana Council
should be held not later than three months from the date of opening of
the institute after the summer vacation.
 Each full-time student as defined in this constitution shall have a vote
each for the election of office-bearers (President, Vice-President,
General Secretary to Technical Board, Cultural Board, Sports Board and Welfare
Board). Each part-time students of the institute shall also have a vote each for the
election of the office bearers; however, such students shall have right to exercise
their franchise only in person – there will be no provision for postal ballot.
 The voting will be by secret ballot: one person shall have one vote for
each post of office bearers.
 The candidate obtaining the highest number of votes polled will be
declared elected. In case of a tie, there shall be a re-election.
Article 10. Tenure
 The tenure of office-bearers of the Students’ Council will be one year.
 In the event of the impossibility of holding of elections within the above
specified period because of reasons beyond the control of the Students’
Council, the existing Students’ Council and the office bearers will
continue in their positions until the elections can be held.
 In the event of the office of President falling vacant before the expiry of
the tenure, the Vice-President will officiate as the President till the next
elections.
 In the event of the office of Vice-President falling vacant, the President
will take over the responsibilities of the Vice-President till the next
elections.
 In the event of the office of the General Secretary to Technical Board,
Cultural Board, Sports Board and Welfare Board falling vacant before the
expiry of the term, the Faculty Advisory Board will, in cosultation with
the President and the Vice-President, nominate a student to take charge
till the next election.

Article 11. Resignations

  Any letter of resignation of a directly-elected office bearer(s) must be
addressed not to the Students’ Council but to the Chairperson, Faculty
Advisory Board. For posts other than that of the President, it may
however be handed over to the President who would further hand over
the resignation to the Chairperson, Faculty Advisory Board.

Article 12: Faculty Advisory Board

 In order to have an association between the students and institute and

better functioning of the institute, there shall be a Faculty Advisory
Board who will act as a nodal agency in executing various tasks
concerning the students.

 The Faculty Advisory Board would be comprise of the Coordinators and

Associate Coordinators of Technical Board, Cultural Board, Sports
Board and the Coordinator of Student Affairs.

 The Co-ordinator Students’ Affairs (or Dean Students’ Affairs, if

appointed) shall be the Chairperson of the Advisory Board.

 Chairperson will be in-charge of coordinating the meetings and taking

decisions along with the members.

 The Board shall consider all proposals from the Council regarding
funding, holding of events, changes in the constitution, and any other
matter and take decisions on them or make recommendations to the
competent authorities, as the case may require.

v. PART IV: THE GENERAL BODY MEETING AND ITS PROCESSES

Article 13. Institute General Body
 The Institute General Body (IGB) shall consist of all the students of the Institute. This
is the sovereign body of all students of the institute, and ultimate decision-making
body regarding the affairs of the Students’ Gymkhana Council and its decision is
binding on the Students’ Council.
 Institute General Body Meeting (IGBM) can be called by the President, Vice-President
and all the General Secretaries on behalf of the Student’s Council with 48 hours’
notice. Institute General Body can also be requisitioned by 30 percent of the
students of the Institute. Such a demand should be sent to the President, Vice-
President and General Secretaries who will convene the meeting with a 24 hours’
notice within 48 hours (excluding holidays) of receiving such a demand.
  The Quorum for such meetings shall be 50 percent of the full-time students and for
decisions on extraordinary matters (Article 14 below), the Quorum shall be 40
percent of the full-time students.
 Procedures for the conduct of Institute General Body Meeting shall be governed by
Appendix 2 of the Constitution.
Article 14. Decisions of the General Body
 All ordinary decisions are to be taken by a simple majority present and voting.
 Decisions regarding extraordinary matters (such as a No Confidence Motion or any
urgent matter concerning the students) have to be taken by a simple majority of of
those present in an IGBM. In the case of constitutional amendments, the decision
shall be taken AT LEAST by 2/3 majority of those present in an IGBM.
Article 15. Amendments to the Constitution
All proposed amendments to the Constitution has to be first approved by the General Body
in the manner prescribed in Article 14.
Such amendments will then have to be recommended for approval by the Faculty Advisory
Board,
The Senate will be the authority to approve amendments to the Constituion as
recommended by the Faculty Advisory Board.
 APPENDIX I:

RULES FOR CONDUCTING STUDENTS’ GYMKHANA COUNCIL

ELECTIONS

The election for all the posts would be conducted by two Returning Officers,
to be appointed by the Faculty Advisory Board. The announcement of elections,
acceptance of nomination papers, preparation of final list of candidates,
conducting the polls and announcement of results will be by the Returning
Officers. All decisions of the Returning Officers will be final and binding on
the students.

The Elections will be governed by the following Rules:

i. All voting will be by secret ballot. Every voter will have one vote for each
position being contested.
ii. All bonafide students of the Institute (including part-time students) will
be allowed to vote.
iii. There will be no provision for postal ballots.
iv. There will be a NOTA (none of the above) provision for each election. If
more than 50% of the valid votes are NOTA, the particular election will
be cancelled and fresh elections held with new nominations.
v. The candidate getting the highest number of votes will be declared the
winner in each election.
vi. Ballot papers: Names of the candidates will be in English in alphabetical
order, the first name of the candidate (not surname) appearing first.
vii. Voters will mark the ballot paper against the name of the candidates of
their choice.
viii. If there is only one candidate contesting for a position, then the
candidate will be declared elected unopposed.
Nomination:

i. Nominations shall be accepted in the prescribed proforma only. They

have to be duly proposed and seconded by bonafide voters.
ii. Nominations shall be invalidated when the name of the proposer,
seconder or the candidate does not figure in the appropriate electoral
list.
iii. A voter can be a proposer or a seconder of only one candidate for only
one position.
iv. A student is eligible to stand only for one post. In the event of a
candidate filing nominations for more than one post after the date of
withdrawal, his/her nominations to all posts shall be invalidated.
Code of Conduct and Campaign:

This Code of Conduct (Code) applies to all students of the institute involved
in the conduct of elections or election campaigns held in respect of elections
for Students’ Council positions for Students Gymkhana Council.

The purpose of this Code is to promote fairness and preserve the integrity of
student elections and election campaigns. It also expects the candidates and
their supporters to maintain a character of friendly competition and respect
for the election process.

General Principles:

The institute anticipates all persons involved in election campaigns (including

candidates, Returning Officers, nomination scrutineers, campaign officials,
candidates’ supporters and voters) to conduct themselves in an ethical and
fair manner. Nobody shall be engaged in any behaviour that causes or could
cause unreasonable disruption to the election process in any manner.

All campaign materials or activities must conform to this code of conduct and
must not contain images or language, or promote behaviour, that causes
offence or that are misleading or defamatory.

Campaign and Canvassing:

i. Election campaigns can be conducted through use of electronic and

non-electronic campaign materials. However, the Returning Officers
may issue directives on what is acceptable and unacceptable in relation
to campaign materials and may require that campaign material is
submitted for approval prior to dissemination or publication if the item
is subject to violation of code.

ii. The institute may also issue additional notifications regarding the size,
placement and distribution volume, if necessary.

iii. Canvassing time for the elections will be from 09:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m.
Each candidate shall not have more than 06 (six) bonafide students
while canvassing in the institute/campus.

iv. While canvassing, using any unfair means (including bribes,

bullying, harassment or threats) to induce or intimidate a student to
vote for a particular candidate or group of candidates will be deemed
a violation of the Code of conduct and Returning Officers will take
appropriate action against the violators.
 v. Campaign materials may not be distributed or brought inside any
polling both.

vi. Any campaigns conducted on campus must be done in a manner

that does not cause any obstruction or unreasonable disruption to
others. Unauthorised removal, defacing or pasting over campaign
materials of other candidates is strictly prohibited.

vii. Campaigning is expressly prohibited in any libraries, computer

laboratories and any designated study areas of the institute.

viii.
In addition to any investigation by the Returning Officers under the
code of conduct or Students Gymkhana Constitution, any
allegations of breaches of this Code may also be investigated and
strict disciplinary actions will be taken.
Withdrawal of Nomination:

i. A candidate may choose to withdraw his/her nomination even if it has

been accepted; such withdrawal must be done in person and in the
prescribed format available with the Returning Officers before the last
date as prescribed.
ii. The withdrawal of the candidature can be done only after the scrutiny
of nominations is over and not at any stage before.
Counting:

 All ballot papers while being counted, must be displayed to the

candidates or to a person authorised by the candidate.
 A Ballot shall be invalidated when there is more than one mark or when
a mark is made outside the boxes indicated in the ballot paper.
 Objection to any vote must be made on the spot at the time of counting
by the authorised counting agent of the candidate concerned.
Recount:

Demand for recount by the authorised counting agent of the candidate

concerned should be made in writing immediately after the first counting. If
the demand is accepted by the Returning Officers, the recount will be
conducted immediately and a maximum of one recount will be held.

APPENDIX II:

PROCEDURE FOR THE CONDUCT OF INSTITUTE GENERAL BODY

MEETING (IGBM)

 The President will chair the Institute General Body Meeting (IGBM). In
the absence of the President, the Vice-President and in the absence of
 both, a Chairperson elected by the General Secretaries from among
themselves shall chair the meeting.
 The Vice-President shall take the quorum and write the minutes and
in his/ her absence, one member elected from the General Secretary
will perform this task.
 The Chairperson shall open the meeting and announce the items of the
agenda, which must be made public at the time of notification of the
IGBM.
 All requests for addition of items to the agenda shall be given to the
Chair in writing and supported by 1/10 of the members of the general
body present at the opening of the meeting.
 Such additions to the agenda shall be put to discussion after all the
items initially on the agenda have been resolved through common
consensus or voting. Any change in the priority of the agenda can be
moved by half the quorum of the meeting and passed by a simple
majority immediately after the opening of the meeting. All such motions
may be moved only once and discussed and voted upon
simultaneously.
 All points of order shall be raised with Chair in writing. The Chair shall
read out all points of order and give his/her ruling assigning reasons
for the same. The ruling of the chair shall be final and binding. Once a
point of order is ruled upon, it cannot be raised again.
 It shall be left to the discretion of the Chair whether to immediately
stop the discussion and read out the point of order and give his or her
ruling or whether to do so after the speaker who is speaking at the
moment has finished. Once the meeting has been called to order by the
Chair, he or she shall decide and announce affixed time limit within
which all persons who wish to speak may submit their names in
writing. At the expiry of the specified time limit, the final list of speakers
will be announced and strictly adhered to.
 Voting shall be either by voice vote, show of hands, count of heads or
secret ballot. The Council shall decide beforehand on the particular
mode to adopt. As regards voting, the Chairperson after taking the vote
with the help of the other members of students Council will declare the
result of the voting.
 All objections and interjections may only be raised in writing with the
Chair and the Chair shall use its discretionary powers whether to read
out and further whether to disallow it or to put it to discussion
assigning reasons for the same.
  The Students Council shall, using its discretionary powers, decide
upon the duration of the meeting and leave it to the Chair to announce
the time of voting.

Appendix III:

Organogram of Students’ Gymkhana Council

PRESIDENT

VICE-PRESIDENT

General General General General

Secretary Secretary Secretary Secretary
Technical Board Cultural Board Sports Board Welfare Board