The General Body Meeting for the year 2021 was held on June 25, 2021

Key Updates

2021 Durga Puja Update

Bay Area Prabasi will be celebrating this year’s Durga Puja in Chabot College, Hayward. Over the last few years, many members have requested the Board to get Prabasi back to Chabot College, given the fond memories of that place. The current Board of directors worked closely with Chabot management to secure the facility.

We will celebrate this year’s Durga Puja in Chabot College and host two professional concerts in the Chabot Auditorium- Kavita Krishnamurthy with Orchestra.

Financial Update for the fiscal year:

Operational Update for the year

RRF-1

2019-2020 filing, including last seven years, removed the “SUSPENDED” status and is now in “CURRENT” status at the Attorney General’s Office, CA Dept. of Justice

NABC 2017 Financial Records – Professional Audit Update

• The professional auditor has queried line items of 1.9 crores expenses in the overseas account for which sufficient details were not provided
• The Board requested this information from the NABC-2017 Committee and was provided with narratives and not actual invoices/receipts as requested by the auditor
• So the audit is not closed/signed off, as the queries remain unresolved FBAR
• FBAR Filing with IRS for overseas account completed in 2021.

IRS Penalty Negotiation –

IRS penalty waived with negotiation; BAPI address corrected in IRS records

Bay Area Prabasi Bylaws

Chitra Ramanathan, Attorney at Law, joined our General Body Meeting yesterday to provide the following updates:

[After meeting with the Bylaws committee and hearing what they wanted to achieve for Bay Area Prabasi and looking into all the compliances, our lawyer has recommended the current Board to update the following as an amendment to the 1992 Bylaws]

• Election Qualification
• Executive Committee appointed by Board
• Code of Conduct – Members, Board and guests will abide
• Membership Renewal Period

The topics below will need membership approval and will be sent out to members for voting

• Life Membership
• Updating Quorum requirement
• Adding Director Recall clause

Elections

2 of our current board members will be completing their term this year, and elections will be held in October/November 2021 after the members complete Bylaws voting, to elect new board members to join the existing Board.

Project Breathe

Project Breathe is one of the most critical and hour of the need project, started by Bay Area Prabasi partnered by Kolkata Foundation (KF), MUKTI, RHCF, and Kolkata Gives – the “Breathe Consortium”

• Bay Area Prabasi US cohort – BayBasi, Sanskriti, Utsav, Ulhaas, and AIM – raised close to USD 220,000
• Total 690 High Quality Oxygen Concentrators distributed in Kolkata and West Bengal; Every district in WB has access to Oxygen concentrator LINK
• Breathe Consortium has procured and distributed 25,000 medicine kits for COVID care in West Bengal
• 5000 meals are distributed by the BAP US cohort through MUKTI
• BAP has funded an ambulance to be served in rural areas to carry patients from primary facilities to hospitals
• West Bengal organizations supported by the Consortium – RKM, BSS, Rotary Club, Lions Club, Nanritam Purulia, Samaritan Help Mission
• Over 500 human lives were saved!