Sai Baba’s statue to be installed at Radha Krishna Temple

The Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Indian Association Inc. (AIA) was held on Sunday, March 24 where the performance of the organisation in the last 12 months was discussed and plans for the upcoming year made.

A significant development from the AGM was that two new statues would be placed the Radha Krishna Temple, adjoining the Mahatma Gandhi Centre. The statue of Sai Baba and Jalaram Bapu will be brought and placed inside the temple premises soon this year.

The AGM was attended by Board of Trustees, the office bearers, donor members and some distinguished guests from the community.

Following a very successful year for AIA Inc., the previous office bearers retained their positions to continue their work and serve the community.

“All Office Bearers retained their respective positions, Narendrabhai Bhana was re-elected as the President, Dhansukhbhai Lal Vice-President, Dr Lingappa Kalburgi  General Secretary, Champaben Patel Assistant Secretary, Himansu Patel Assistant Secretary, Hershad Jairam Treasurer and Barwant Bhikha Assistant Treasurer,” a member of the committee told The Indian Weekender.

Auckland Indian Association Inc. in the last 12 months has hosted several community events such as hosting the Independence Day, Republic Day celebrations, 10-day Navaratri celebrations during Diwali etc. The Association also hosted several other initiatives for the community such as prayer service for former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, prayer service for the victims of Christchurch mosque attack, among others.

“Auckland Indian Association had a very successful year, and I thoroughly enjoyed being the president of such a prestigious organisation,” President Narendra Bhana told The Indian Weekender.

Mr Bhana also expressed his sincere thanks to Office Bearers, Board of Trustees, sub-committee Chairpersons and volunteers for their invaluable support throughout the year. Auckland Indian Association sub-committee Chairperson’s reports were also tabled.

“I dedicated the organisation’s success to our hard-working volunteers who have devoted their time and efforts in getting everything in order,” Mr Bhana added.

Treasurer Hershadbhai Jairam presented Financial reports for the AIA and Mahatma Gandhi Charitable Trust to members.

Mr Jairam presented Treasurers’ report indicating that although the AIAI showed a lower surplus in 2018 than in 2017, there were extraordinary items in that the AIAI made a donation of $16,000 to the Starship Foundation, and also deferred $15,000 revenue to 2019 owing to revenue recognition principles. The donation of $16,000 made by the AIAI was matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor, which resulted in a total donation of $32,000 to the Starship Foundation.

Mr Jairam then went through the Performance Report highlighting the reasons behind some of the selected major revenues, and outgoings.

“Over the past 3 years, the Charities Commission has required the Performance reports to be audited by Independent Chartered Accountants, which despite being an added cost to the association, provides comfort to the members of the Association regarding the integrity of the reported results,” Mr Jairam mentioned.

Present at the AGM was Mr Bhavin Sanghavi from the audit firm UHY Haines Norton. Mr Sanghavi reviewed the audit report and explained why the reports bore a qualified opinion. This qualified opinion is common for a significant portion of Charities in New Zealand.

The AIAI also invested in a completely new set of gas cookers replacing the old ones which were being used since the inception of the Mahatma Gandhi centre.

The costs of the AIAI are kept to a minimum as all the labour in the kitchen and the support of all other functions such as Navratri and Temple functions are provided by dedicated volunteers.

The Chairman of the Board Dhansukhbhai Lal expressed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims of Christchurch mosque attacks. Mr Lal also expressed his sincere thanks to all Board of Trustees for their commitment throughout the year.

“I am very pleased with the Board’s performance over the last twelve months”, Mr Lal said.

The meeting also elected three new Life members and seven new Merit Certificate holders.