The Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur Act, 2023

(1) This Act may be called the Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur Act, 2023. (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Rajasthan. (3) It shall come into force at once.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- (a) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules under this Act; (b) “rules” means rules made under this Act; (c) “State Government” means the Government of the State of Rajasthan; and (d) “Trust” means the Trust for the establishment and management of the Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur.

The object of the Trust shall be,- (a) to manage and operate the Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur; (b) to promote the messages of Mahatma Gandhi through art, culture and technology; (c) to develop and operate a library for collection and preservation of rare books, literature, photographs, films and articles relating to Mahatma Gandhi; (d) to make plans and implement them for the promotion of Gandhian thought and philosophy; and (e) to educate, train, etc. for creating awareness among the general public and all classes through the philosophy and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi.

(1) With effect from such date as the State Government may appoint, by notification, there shall be constituted, for the purposes of this Act, a body by the name of the Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur for promotion of volunteerism for Gandhian work and betterment of the society and to restore, protect and manage museum and all movable and immovable properties. (2) The Trust shall consist of the following,- (a) Chief Minister -President; (b) Gandhian Thinker to be nominated by State Government -Vice-President; (c) Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan -Ex-officio Member; (d) Secretary to the Government in-charge of the Department of Finance -Ex-officio Member; (e) Secretary to the Government in-charge of the Department of Art, Literature, Culture and Archeology - Ex-officio Member; (f) Commissioner, Jaipur Development Authority - Ex-officio Member; (g) Secretary to the Government in-charge of the Department of Peace and Non-Violence - Ex-officio Member; (h) fifteen Gandhian Thinkers/Social Workers to be nominated by State Government - Members; (i) Director, Directorate of Peace and Non-Violence -Member; and (j) Director, Gandhi Darshan Museum -Member-Secretary. Explanation.- For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression “Secretary to the Government in-charge” means the Secretary to the Government in-charge of a department and includes an Additional Chief Secretary and a Principal Secretary when he is in-charge of that department. (3) The Vice-President of the Trust shall be nominated from amongst persons who evince interest in understanding and commitment to Gandhian philosophy. He shall be a whole time paid officer of the Trust. (4) The term of the Vice-President shall be of five years. (5) The Trust shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession by the name of the “The Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur” and a common seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall, by the said name, sue and be sued. (6) Members nominated under clause (h) of sub-section (2) of section 4 shall be given honorarium as may be prescribed. (7) The head office of the Trust shall be at Jaipur.

(1) For the purpose of nomination of the members mentioned in clause (h) of sub-section (2) of section 4, the State Government shall invite applications from eligible persons through a public notice. (2) The State Government shall nominate members from amongst the eligible persons who applied therefor.

(1) The term of office of members nominated under clauses (b) and (h) of sub-section (2) of section 4 shall be for a period of six years, and one third of the nominated members of the Trust shall retire after every two years. (2) Upon creation of Trust for the first time, retirement of members after second and fourth year shall be done by draw of lots. (3) A nominated member may resign from office by writing under his hand addressed to the President: Provided that such resignation shall not take effect until it is accepted by the President.

(1) No person shall be a nominated Member if he- (a) is, or becomes, of un sound mind or is declared by a competent court; or (b) is, or has been, convicted of an offence, which in the opinion of the State Government involves moral turpitude; or (c) is, or at any time has been, adjudicated as an insolvent. (2) The President shall have right to remove from Trust, on the recommendation of Vice-President, any nominated member, if he is found guilty of misconduct or who has been charge-sheeted for the offence involving moral turpitude or is otherwise found to be unfit.

No act of the Members shall be deemed to be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of the Trust.

All the property, whether movable or immovable which may hereafter be given, bequeathed, or otherwise transferred for the purposes of the Trust or acquired for the said purposes shall vest in the Trust.

The functions of the Trust shall be,- (i) to plan and carry out activities for the promotion of Gandhian ideals and philosophy; (ii) to promote initiatives to create awareness on the life and message of Mahatma Gandhi through educational media like exhibition, films, posters, and different forms of Art, Culture and Technology; (iii) to develop and preserve a library of books including rare books, literature, photographs, films and documents etc.; (iv) to collect, preserve and exhibit important relics of Mahatma Gandhi; (v) to promote volunteerism for Gandhian work and betterment of the society; (vi) to focus on empowering the marginalized through different activities related to philosophy and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi; (vii) to restore, protect and manage library, museum and all movable and immovable properties therein according to requirement; (viii) to bring publication for various sections of people to enhance their knowledge about Mahatma Gandhi and the values he propagated; (ix) to conduct inter-disciplinary research on Gandhian philosophy in the context of contemporary issues; and (x) to cooperate and seek cooperation from other institutions for the aforesaid purposes.

(1) The Vice-President shall be responsible for organizing and managing the meetings of the Trust. (2) The President of the Trust shall have the power to convene an emergency or sudden meeting of the Trust. (3) The presence of either of the President or the Vice-President is mandatory in the meetings. (4) A quorum of one-third of the members shall be necessary for meetings. (5) The meeting of the Trust shall be held once in every six months. (6) Travel and accommodation, food, refreshment during the meeting, expenses of the members of the Trust or other necessary participants in the meetings of the Trust and other related expenditures of meetings shall be borne by the Trust. (7) Minutes of the meeting of the trust shall be issued within a period of ten days from the date of meeting. (8) All the decisions of the Trust shall be taken by a majority of the members present and in case of equality of votes, the President of the meeting shall have the right to cast a casting vote.

The Director, Directorate of Gandhi Darshan Museum shall be the administrative head of the Trust office who shall conduct day to day work and shall work under the direction of the Vice-President.

The Trust shall have the following sections/offices for the purpose of administration:- (a) Vice-President’s Office; (b) Office of Director, Gandhi Darshan Museum; (c) Administrative section; (d) Finance and Accounts section; (e) Research and Development section; (f) Museum section; (g) Library section; (h) Publication section; (i) Events and Exhibition section; and (j) Information and Communication section.

(1) The Trust shall appoint such other officers and employees as it considers necessary to carry out the functions of the Trust. (2) The salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of other officers and employees of the Trust shall be such as may be prescribed.

The Members shall have the control and management of the Trust and have the following powers,- (a) to purchase and acquire any immovable property of any kind for the object of the Trust; (b) to sell, mortgage, or dispose of any immovable property/properties belonging to the Trust; (c) to incur all expenditure necessary as in their own opinion useful for carrying out the objects and administration of the Trust; (d) to open one or more bank accounts of the Trust with any Bank or Banks as the Members may deem fit and deposit money of the Trust in the Bank accounts; (e) to employ staff of all kinds, necessary and useful for carrying out the functions and administration of the Trust; and (f) to accept contributions in cash or in kind either by way of addition to the Trust funds generally or for any one or more of the specified objects of the Trust.

The following shall be the committees of the Trust:- (a) Management Committee- For managing functions of the Trust and conducting meetings of the Trust; (b) Planning Committee- For making new schemes to promote values of Gandhism and ensuring their implementation; (c) Committee for Promotion of Gandhism- For reviving Gandhi’s values and spreading them through various platforms of art and culture and through education; (d) Committee for the Protection of Gandhian Values- For running libraries with a view to maintain rare books, literature, photographs, and articles related to the lifetime of Mahatma Gandhi; and (e) Training and Capacity Building Committee- For creating awareness among the general public and all classes through Philosophy and thought of Mahatma Gandhi through Education and training etc. .

(1) The Trust shall maintain true and correct accounts of all the Trust moneys and of all the income and investments and all the expenses. (2) The year of accounts shall be the financial year commencing from 1st April and ending on 31st March. (3) The Trust shall issue each year a report setting out the accounts showing the income and expenditure of the Trust for the preceding year not later than six months from the end of the preceding year of accounts. (4) The accounts of the Trust shall be audited every year by a Chartered Accountant who may be appointed for the purpose.

The State Government shall create a corpus fund of Rupees 10 crore for the regular, convenient and independent operation of the Gandhi Vatika Trust, Jaipur with the interest of which the Trust shall conduct its activities. It shall be the responsibility of the Trust to maintain the original corpus fund amount.

The Trust shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts of the Trust including the income and expenditure in accordance with direction as may be issued by the State Government.

The Trust shall prepare every year, in such form and within such time as may be prescribed an annual report giving a true and full account of its activities during the previous year and copies thereof shall be forwarded to the State Government and that State Government shall cause the same to be laid before the House of State Legislature.

If any questions arise as to whether any person has been duly nominated or not or is entitled to be a member of any committee, the matter shall be referred to the Vice-President, whose decision thereon shall be final: Provided that before taking any such decision the person affected thereby shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.

In the event of dissolution of the Trust, the assets of the Trust remaining on the date of dissolution shall under no circumstance be distributed among the Members, but the same shall be transferred to the State Government.

(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. (2) All rules made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after they are so made, before the House of the State Legislature, while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if before the expiry of the session in which they are so laid, or of the session immediately following, the House of the State Legislature makes any modifications in any of such rules, or resolves that any such rule should not be made, such rules shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder. (3) Every rule made under this Act shall be published by the State Government in the Official Gazette.

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government may, by order, as occasion requires, do anything not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, which appears to them to be necessary for the purpose of removing the difficulty: Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act. (2) Every order made under this section shall be laid before the House of the State Legislature.