The Palni Hills Conservation Council ------------------------------------ Minutes of the First Annual General Body meeting of the PHCC held on 12th May '86 at 5:00 p.m. at the Nutshell. Members Present: --------------- 1. M. S. Viraraghavan 2. Girija Viraraghavan 3. V. R. Rajagopal 4. C. Jeyakaran 5. K. S. Rajan 6. Philippa Mukherjee 7. Tara Murali 8. J. Nath 9. R. Chanchani 10. V. M. I. Francis Raj 11. Romulus Whitaker 12. David Nagel 13. W. P. A. R. Nagarajan 14. Norman Habel 15. K. M. Mathew 16. Chandra Shankar 17. Gowri Shankar Invitees: -------- 1. Meenakshi Meyyappan 2. A. R. Damodran 3. M. Raman 4. D. Thiagarajan 5. Soumini Ramesh 6. Shrimathi Mahesh 7. Murali S. Venkatraman I. The salient points of the annual report of the Executive Committee, sent to all the members earlier, was explained to the General Body by the President, the Annual report was unanimously adopted. II. The Treasurer explained the audited accounts of the PHCC for the year ending 31.3.'86. The audited accounts were approved. III. M. S. Viraraghavan proposed that the present auditor of PHCC, V. Elango of Tiruchirapalli be reappointed as the PHCC auditor for the year 1986-87. The proposal was unanimously accepted by all members. IV. The following are the valid nominations received for the Executive Committee and office bearers of the PHCC for 1986-87. 1. M. S. Viraraghavan - President 2. K. M. Mathew - Vice President 3. N. C. Habel - Vice President 4. C. Jeyakaran - Secretary 5. Pippa Mukherjee - Jt. Secretary 6. V. M. I. Francis Raj - Treasurer 7. W. P. A. R. Nagarajan - Member Executive Committee 8. K. S. Rajan - Member Executive Committee 9. David Nagel - Member Executive Committee 10. Girija Viraraghavan - Member Executive Committee 11. George Roshan - Member Executive Committee 12. J. Nath - Member Executive Committee 13. Romulus Whitaker - Member Executive Committee 14. Tara Murali - Member Executive Committee 15. V. R. Rajagopal - Member Executive Committee M. S. Viraraghavan mentioned the Executive Committee's suggestion to propose to the General Body the name of Jean Pouyet of Auroville as the 16th member of the Executive Committee for the one remaining vacancy. All the above valid nominations including that of Jean Pouyet were considered by the General Body. The Office bearers/members as per the nominations were declared elected unanimously to the Executive Committee of the PHCC for 1986-87. It was also unanimously resolved to request Shri. N. Natarajan, senior advocate of Madras High Court, to be the honorary legal advisor of the PHCC. V. a) It was resolved to hold an open meeting on the 28th May '86, at 5 p.m. at the Boat Club Lounge to explain to interested members of the Public, the PHCC's ideas on conservation in the Palni Hills, and to have an open discussion. b) Various issues pertaining to conservation were discussed at the meeting. It was felt that various sub-committees should be constituted, and existing sub-committees revitalized, to go into details of the different aspects of conservation in the Palnis, and that all PHCC members should actively participate in one or more sub-committees. VI. The PHCC program for 1986-'87 was discussed in detail. The following were considered priority items: i) Preparation of an Eco Development plan for the Palnis. ii) Preparation of an ecologically appropriate forest policy. iii) Berijam Biosphere Project. iv) Involvement of local people in conservation programs, including eco development camps for children of local schools. v) Shola and other tree nurseries for distribution to Kodai residents. May '86 C. Jeyakaran M. S. Viraraghavan Kodaikanal Secretary, PHCC President, PHCC