The association shall be called LOK SATTA.

2. The office of LOK SATTA shall be situated in Hyderabad. Presently the address

of LOK SATTA is:

# 401 & 408, Nirmal Towers,

Dwarakapuri Colony,

Punjagutta,

Hyderabad - 500 082.

Andhra Pradesh.

3. LOK SATTA shall be a corporate body with perpetual succession and common

seal and with powers to hold property, to enter into contracts, to sue and to be

sued.

4. LOK SATTA shall be a non-profit and voluntary association.

5. The objectives of LOK SATTA are:

1. to promote public awareness about democratic functioning of all institutions

of governance;

2. to advocate and promote holistic, peaceful, democratic transformation of

Indian polity;

3. to work for creation of a suitable environment for democratic functioning

of all institutions of Indian governance and to ensure self-correcting

mechanisms of governance;

1. to work for enlargement of freedoms, promotion of self governance,

empowerment of people, and enforcement of rule of law, and

2. to work in particular for the following constitutional and legal reforms

in furtherance of the above objectives:

1. to make political parties fully accountable to their own members

and the general public and transparent in their functioning,

including in matters relating to their membership, election of

office bearers, choice of candidates for elective public offices,

and income and expenditure;

2. to ensure effective separation of legislature, executive and

judiciary at all levels - local, district, state and national - with

appropriate checks and balances;

3. to promote electoral reforms which make elections truly

democratic and transparent, facilitate and promote the

participation of the best men and women in the Indian political

process and curb electoral malpractices - civil and criminal;

4. to ensure balanced distribution of functions and responsibilities

among the union, state and local governments; and to ensure

allocation of resources and devolution of powers commensurate

with the functions and responsibilities entrusted to each tier;

5. to ensure effective decentralization of governance and empowerment

of local governments as participative tiers of constitutional,

democratic governance at appropriate levels - village, town, city,

intermediate, district - with their own legislatures and executives,

in a manner that authority and accountability fuse, and there is

a clear nexus between the vote and welfare of the citizens;

6. to make bureaucracy truly accountable, responsive and efficient at

all levels.

7. to ensure speedy, efficient, accessible and affordable justice to

people;

viii. to ensure open and transparent governance at all levels with the

enforceable right to information to citizens in all matters of state,

without prejudice to national security or enforcement of law;

1. to ensure insulation of crime investigation and prosecution from

partisan pulls and political vagaries;

2. to ensure creation of an effective, independent mechanism to

combat corruption in public offices; and

3. to ensure creation of an independent mechanism for appointment of

constitutional functionaries;

6. In furtherance of its objectives, either by itself or in collaboration with other

organisations, LOK SATTA will;

1. promote interaction on various aspects of reforms in governance;
2. launch a vigorous, sustained campaign in support of democratic reforms in

Indian polity;

3. act as a resource centre for grassroots institutions that may be promoted to

propagate the cause of Indiance governance reform;

4. network with voluntary social action groups, individuals and academic

institutions working for similar causes in India or abroad, so that synergies

are brought out;

5. work to build a national platform for furthering its objectives in

collaboration with like-minded institutions, organizations and individuals;

6. act as watchdog over all institutions of governance, and mobilise public

opinion in support of reforms through all available democratic and peaceful

means; and

7. take up such other activities as may be necessary from time to time for

furthering and promoting the objectives of LOK SATTA.

6. There will be a Primary Unit of LOK SATTA for a village or group of villages or

a town or a part of town or city.

7. Primary Units will be for a specific territorial area in case of rural areas and on the

basis of defined territory or like-minded groups irrespective of territory in urban

areas.

8. No Primary Unit shall be formed on the basis of caste, creed, religion or other such

sectarian considerations.

9. A Primary Unit shall ordinarily have about 50 members. However, the size of the

Primary Unit will be determined by the District Unit concerned, depending on

local circumstances.

10. Primary Unit affairs shall be managed by an Executive Committee consisting of 3

members, elected once in two years from among themselves by the members of the

Primary Unit, and one among them shall be the Convenor.

 

District Unit:

11. There will be a District Unit for each revenue district, comprising of :

a) one representative from each Primary Unit in the District - either the

convenor of the Primary Unit or another member chosen by the Primary

Unit shall represent it;

b) one representative from each voluntary organisation or institution,

which is admitted as an Institutional Member of the District Unit; and

c) individuals admitted by invitation by the District Unit - such membership

shall not exceed 10.

12. District Unit affairs shall be managed by a Managing Committee of a minimum of

5 members, elected once in two years from among themselves by the members of

the District Unit, of whom one shall be the Secretary. If there are more than 10

Primary Units in a district, additional members of the Managing Committee at the

rate of one for every 10 Primary Units or part thereof, subject to a maximum of 21

may be chosen for the Managing Committee.

13. Wherever the number of Primary Units in a district is large, the District Unit may

constitute Intermediate Units for effective coordination of the activities of the

Primary Units.

 

APEX UNIT

14. There will be an Apex Unit, comprising of:

1. one representative from each District Unit - either the Secretary or any

other member chosen by the District Unit

2. one representative from each voluntary organisation or institution specially

admitted as an Institutional Member of the Apex Unit

3. members of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms; and
4. individuals admitted by invitation by the Apex Unit. Such membership

shall not exceed 25 in the Apex Unit.

6. There will be a Coordination Committee of seven members, of whom one shall be

LOK SATTA National Coordinator. The National Coordinator and the

members of the Coordination Committee shall be elected by the Apex Unit once in

two years.

Membership

7. Membership is open to all Indian Citizens of 18 years and above, who

subscribe to the objectives of LOK SATTA.

8. No office bearer of a Political Party shall be a member;
9. No member of a political party shall be eligible to be elected as an office bearer

or member of Executive Committee/Managing Committee/Coordination Committee

of LOK SATTA at any level.

10. No member of a Local Body, State Legislature, or Union Parliament shall be a

member.

11. No one convicted for offences constituting corruption, violence causing grievous

injury or moral turpitude shall be a member.

12. Organisations in India with aims and objects wholly or partly similar to those

of LOK SATTA, and none of their objectives and activities being detrimental

to that of LOK SATTA, may be admitted as Institutional Members; at District or

Apex level.

13. Any individual, whose commitment and/or contribution to the promotion of

democratic values in the nation has been significant, may be invited by the

Managing Committee/Coordination Committee to be a member of the District

Unit or Apex Unit, as the case may be. Such membership shall be limited to 10 in a

District Unit and 25 in the Apex Unit.

MEMBERSHIP FEE:

14. Membership fee will be decided by the Apex Unit and adopted by other Units, from

time to time.

15. Membership amount shall be shared by the Primary Unit, District Unit and

Apex Unit in the ratio of 50: 25 :25

CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP:

16. A person shall cease to be a member of LOK SATTA

1. on resignation
2. on death
3. on expulsion by the respective Executive / Managing / Coordination

Committee by a resolution passed by a majority of members present, for

any activity detrimental to the interests of the Organisation; provided

that a reasonable opportunity for explanation is given to the member before

the proposal for expulsion is considered.

4. on contesting in any election to the Local Body, State Legislature or

Union Parliament.

5. on being elected as an office bearer of any political party.
6. on being convicted for offences constituting corruption, violence or moral

turpitude.

RESOURCES

6. The primary resource of LOK SATTA shall be the commitment, knowledge and

experience of the members to further the objectives of LOK SATTA. Financial

and other resources to support the activities of LOK SATTA will consist of:

1. receipts arising out of the activities of LOK SATTA;
2. returns from the investment of trust capital and endowed funds;
3. grants, donations, and loans and other contributions from members,

governments, corporate bodies and individuals for general as well as

specific purposes;

4. membership fee; and
5. any other legal means decided by the Apex Unit from time to time.

SATTA, no resolution made by the Board under Articles 34 to 38 shall become

effective unless it is approved by the competent authority in the Department of

Income Tax.

CERTIFICATE

39. Certified that this is the correct copy of the Articles of Association of LOK SATTA.