Bodies asked to complete all formalities by March 31
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Feb 10: Taking serious notice of registered Associations, Unions and Societies not complying to the regulations governing their operations, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has warned action against such bodies if they don’t complete the requisite formalities by the end of current financial year.
Office bearers of such bodies have been asked to immediately complete all the necessary legal formalities in respect of their Associations/Unions/Societies with the concerned Registrars and update all information connected thereto by or before March 31, 2021, failing which appropriate action against defaulters shall be initiated.
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A circular in this regard was issued today by the General Administration Department of J&K Government, according to which there are 582 registered Associations/Unions/Societies in the Union Territory; 446 in Kashmir division and 136 in Jammu division.
Observing that a large number of these bodies are not complying to the regulatory regime governing their operations, the Government authorities have viewed this non-compliance seriously and warned appropriate action.
“Most of these bodies have not renewed their registrations and have not conducted elections to various officebearer posts or have not furnished the updated information pertaining to maintenance of accounts/source of funding alongwith audit details etc,” read the circular, impressing upon office bearers of such bodies to complete all the necessary legal formalities by or before March 31, 2021.
As per the Government records, there are 582 such registered bodies, which include trade and industries associations, sports associations, Labour unions, educational and welfare societies, etc.
Interestingly, the number of such bodies in Kashmir division is more than three times in Jammu. In Kashmir, maximum of such bodies are of fruit growers, with area of operation confined to one district.
Except a few, all these bodies in Kashmir division never submitted their accounts after registration and also did not conduct elections of the office bearers. These were also not renewed till date.
As per the available record with the concerned authorities, elections for office bearers of 436 out of these 446 Kashmir based bodies were never conducted since the registration even as the same is mandatory after a specific period of time.
Among the total 446 bodies in Kashmir, 140 are registered in Srinagar district, 137 in Baramulla, 49 in Anantnag, 40 in Shopian, 23 in Kulgam, 20 in Pulwama, 12 in Budgam, 10 in Kupwara, five in Bandipora and only three in Ganderbal.
On the other hand, operations of Jammu based bodies are far better than those in Kashmir even as some of them have also not submitted their audited accounts after the registration.
While maximum of the Jammu based trade and business bodies almost regularly conducted elections, the record of the educational and welfare societies in this regard is extremely poor. Most of these educational and welfare societies have area of operation in Poonch-Rajouri.
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