ICC Holds Elections for Vacant Seats on the Board
The members of the Board of Directors (seated) and the Board of Trustees (standing) with the Election Commissioners after the ICC election held on Sunday, December 6 at India House. Some Directors were not able to attend the election.
By Jawahar Malhotra
HOUSTON: You wouldn’t call it hotly contested, but when you have elections of any sort, especially for a non-profit Board, it is a pleasant surprise if there is a large interest in the group and its activities. Most are often content with nominations that expand the Board after an internal vote. This past Sunday, December 6, the India Culture Center had one of those cases – a minor cliff hanger – when a secret ballot was cast by the general body and new members of the Board were chosen.
There were nine nominations for the eight vacant seats on the Board of Directors and two unopposed seats of the Board of Trustees. The Election Committee composed of Girish Pandya, Sam Merchant and this reporter had received the nominations for several weeks and all ICC members were already asked to come for the vote at India House.
Prior to the vote, outgoing ICC President Charlie Patel read from a list of the activities and events that the ICC had participated in during 2015. Chief Trustee Swapan Dhairyawan then went over the finances and left them available for examination. Secretary Falguni Gandhi called on the Election Commissioners (Sam Merchant was unable to attend) to conduct the vote and each member was asked to cast their ballot in secret.
After counting the ballots, the following people were elected to the Board: Pramod Bengani, Rajiv Bhavshar, Dilip Dadhich, Sangeeta Dua, Falguni Gandhi, Keka Kar, Nisha Mirani and Ajit Patel.
Those elected for the unopposed Trustee positions are Parul Fernandes and Sangeeta Pasrija.
The Board will hold an election of its Executive Committee on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 2pm.