Membership Criteria of the Association of Christian Philosophers of India (ACPI)

Original Membership Provisions #

As per the original Rules and Regulations of the Society

4. Membership #

a) Any person competent in Philosophy (through his degrees, publications, professional teaching etc.) can become a member if he is sponsored and presented by a member and accepted by the Governing Body, besides the subscribers to the Memorandum of the Association.

b) Every person, being eligible for membership as above, pays the entrance fee (revised from time to time) and the annual membership subscription (which may be revised from time to time), shall be considered to be a member of the Society and have his name enrolled in the Membership Register.

c) The Governing Body may refuse to admit to membership any person without assigning reason for the refusal, provided that in the case of such refusal, the Governing Body shall intimate the sponsoring person of such refusal within a period of thirty days.

d) The Society shall maintain an up-to-date Membership Register recording inter alia, names and addresses of all the members with the date of admission and date of termination, if any.

Revised Membership Provisions (2011) #

Amendments accepted by more than ¾ of the members present at the General Body Meeting on 13th/15th October 2011 and ratified by the Governing Body, as per the request submitted to the Registrar of Societies, Eluru, on 30th December 2013

The original Rules and Regulations No. 4 (Membership) (a), (b), and (c) were amended as follows:

4. (a) #

For a person to become a member of the Association, s/he needs:

to be competent in Philosophy through one’s academic degrees (a minimum of Master’s Degree), publications, professional teaching, etc.,
to make a request by filling in ‘the application form’,
to be presented by a member,
to pay the membership fee, and
to be accepted by the Executive Committee after a year of probation.

4. (b) #

If the membership of a person is terminated for any of the reasons given in Rule No. 5, and if he or she wants to be a member again, he or she has to go through the whole process once again.

4. (c) #

Only those who have been members of the Association for a minimum of three years can be elected to the Executive Committee, and for one to be elected President, Secretary or Treasurer, one should have been a member for a minimum of five years.

One ceases to be a member if one does not attend the annual meetings consecutively for five years without any prior notice to the President/Secretary, or if one does not pay the annual subscription fee, including the arrears for the years when one was absent. Before terminating membership, the Governing Body (President/Secretary) may give prior notice and seek an explanation. One may also lose membership if the Governing Body has sufficient reason to terminate an individual’s membership, provided 2/3 of the members present at the Governing Body meeting pass the resolution.

These revisions were introduced to provide greater organisational stability and clarity after more than two decades of experience as a registered society.