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Rotary South Asia Office

Rotary South Asia Office History

In view of the growth potential of this region and the escalating needs of the Rotarians, Rotary International South Asia Branch Office was set up in Delhi on 01 October 1984. Besides decentralization, the purpose of the branch office was to provide quicker, efficient and personalized service to clubs and Rotarians of 27 districts spread over in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a cost effective manner. The office was initially located on the outskirts of Delhi at Dr. Mukherjee Nagar. The main functions of the Branch Office initially were to admit new clubs, answer queries on policy matters, provide guidance & training to club & district leaders, attend various district functions, etc. All fiscal functions were being handled by the Fiscal Agents in respective countries with those of India & Nepal being handled from Bombay (now Mumbai).

However, effective 01 July 1986, all fiscal functions pertaining to India and Nepal were entrusted to the Branch Office which was divided into two sections, namely; Service Section (responsible for service to Rotarians, including administration & publications) and Finance Section, (responsible for all financial matters including TRF).

The branch office was renamed as Rotary International South Asia Service Center effective 01 July 1995. On 09 December 1996, the office was shifted to Sucheta Bhawan at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi.

In October 2000, Rotary International decided to reorganize the structure of all its Service Centers across the world with a view to providing fast, consistent and effective service to all its members. The major change that took place in the organizational structure of South Asia Service Center was Reorganization into 4 different sections namely:

SClub & District Administration (CDA) Section - to handle all service functions of Rotary International pertaining to South Asian countries.
Financial Services (FS) Section– to handle all financial functions.
The Rotary Foundation (TRF) Section to represent and assist TRF in the region and resolve issues such as contributions, recognitions etc and provide secretarial support to Rotary Foundation (India).
Administration Section – to handle general administration of the office, order & stock RI & TRF publications to cater to the requirements of Rotary Clubs and Rotarians from South Asia and supervise printing in India as instructed by RI World Headquarters.

The name was again changed to Rotary International South Asia Office with effect from 01 July 2001. The office was shifted to its current premises on 14 December 2001 at Janpath, New Delhi. The area is located near Connaught Place (in the center of New Delhi).

In February 2002, “Membership Data section” came into existence. This section is responsible for data entry in respect of Club(s) membership, changes, up- gradation, Club Officers and District appointments, Semi-Annual Reports, subscription entries for “The Rotarian” magazine for Rotarians/Clubs & Districts being served by South Asia Office and other data entry jobs, as assigned. They also handle queries from club officers and DGs of South Asia.

On 25 March 2003, Rotary Club of Kabul was chartered in District-3270, thus bringing Afghanistan in the list of countries to be provided service to by RI South Asia Office.
Currently, we are catering to the requirements of about 3035 Rotary clubs in 31 Districts of 6 South Asian countries with about 2,531 Interact Clubs, about 2,265 Rotaract clubs and about 3,260 Rotary Community Corps.

As far as receipts and payments are concerned, this office does not deal with Districts 3220 (Sri-Lanka), 3270(Pakistan) and 3280 (Bangladesh),which is being carried out by respective fiscal agents. For details of Fiscal Agents.

MILESTONES

1984	Rotary International South Asia Branch Office was set up to provide service to 173 clubs in 27 districts spread over India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal & Sri Lanka.
1985	Formation of Financial Section.
1986	Assisted organizing committee in conducting Asia Regional Conference in Delhi.
1987	Rotary Foundation (India) RFI was incorporated as an Associate of The Rotary Foundation. Separate bank account was opened to collect contributions for the Foundation. Exemption of Income Tax under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act was obtained to provide 50% tax exemption to contributors.
1989	Computerization of office started with purchase of first computer.
1998	Assisted organizing committee in conducting Council on Legislation in Delhi.
2000	Reorganization of office took place with two new sections added namely, The Rotary Foundation and Administration Section and previous ones reorganized. All staff members were given access to e-mail and Internet. Started printing Club Officers Kit and Rotary Foundation Quick Reference Guide in India for South Asia and South West Pacific Offic
2001	In July 2001 Board of Directors meeting, it was agreed to change the names of International Service Centers and Rotary International South Asia Service center was renamed as Rotary International South Asia Office Rotary International S. Asia Office fully computerized. To accept contributions for Gujarat Earthquake relief measures by Indian Rotarians, two different bank accounts were opened – one for contributions in Indian Rupees for which 100% tax exemption for all contributions was obtained from Income Tax authorities and another to accept contributions from other countries during a specific period. For this, approval from FCRA authorities was obtained. Additional Reporting requirements for grants being paid from RF(I) finalized and informed to Clubs and Districts.
2002	Membership Data Section was added. Special Drive for collection of funds for Polio Eradication launched under the name of Polio Eradication Fund Raising Campaign by Rotary International. In India, separate bank account for receiving contributions for eradication of polio under “Polio Eradication Fund Raising Campaign” (PEFC) opened. Rotary Foundation (India) was registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) to receive contributions from WHQ. Started catering to online prepaid (shop@rotary.org) requests for publications through RI web site. Started printing Rotary International Catalog in India. Sale of publications on prepaid basis started and credit card machine installed for receipt of payments of publications from visiting Rotarians.
2003	South Asia Office registered as “Rotary International South Asia Office” under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 as a non-profit company. Exemption was obtained from Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi for paying grants to Rotary Clubs/Districts from the FCRA bank account of Rotary Foundation (India) for a period of one year (till January 2004). Acceptance of contributions by credit cards started and credit card machines were installed for receipt of contributions in RF(I) account and RF(I) - PEFC account from Rotarians visiting our office as well as by Mail Order. Membership Data Section started entering data for Philippines and South west pacific and Australian region also besides South Asian countries.