Sr. No. 006 THE DELHI GOLF CLUB LIMITED Dr. Zakir Hussain Road, New Delhi-110003 www.delhigolfclub.org Minutes of the Sixth meeting of the General Committee of The Delhi Golf Club Limited for the financial year 2017-18 held on Thursday, 28 th September 2017 commenced at 4.00 P.M. in the Board Room of the Delhi Golf Club Limited at Dr. Zakir Hussain Road, New Delhi-110003 and concluded at 6.30 P.M. PRESENT:- Mr. Siddharth Shriram President/Chairman Maj. Gen. K.M.S. Shergill, VSM (Retd.) Captain Mr. Ashwini Kumar Luthra Treasurer Mr. Vikram Seth Ms. Bubbles (Veena) Suneja Mrs. Shiraz Singh Mr. Rohit Sabherwal Mr. Krishan Varma Capt. Lakhinder Singh Bahl Mr. Amit Krishan Luthra Mr. Brij Kishore Anand Mr. Raj Nath Khosla Ex-Captain Ms. Sita Nanda Lady Captain Mr. Rajiv Hora Secretary 1. To Welcome the members of the General Committee and confirm presence of quorum: The President being the Chairman of the Meeting, welcomed all the members and confirmed the presence of the requisite quorum. After confirmation of the quorum, the President called the meeting to order. The members were updated that the meeting had been called at a shorter notice. The same was taken on record. 1 P a g e
2. To consider and approve request(s), for grant of leave of absence to the members of the General Committee (Directors), if any; The General Committee granted leave of absence to the following members of the General Committee who had expressed their inability to attend the meeting: Mr. A.K. Virmani Mr. Vikram Sethi Mr. Dharmendra Mr. Rajiv Gauba Mr. Ashok Lavasa Govt. Nominee Govt. Nominee Govt. Nominee 3. Condolence: The Committee observed a minute s silence in memory of the following Members who had passed away recently:- S. No Name M. No. Category 1. Mr. Santosh Mohan Dev D197 A Member 2. Mr. V.N. Chhabra C034 A Member 3. Marshal of Airforce Arjan A079 A Member Singh 4. Mr. Dev Khurana K320 A Member 5. Mrs. Prabha Sikri S131 C member 6. Mr. Rajeev Lal L136 C member 4. Grant of privilege to use the Club facility under Surviving Spouse Category: The General Committee granted privilege to use the Club facility under surviving Spouse Category to the below listed: (i) Mrs. Madhu Kohli W/o. Late Mr. D.V. Kohli (K-087) (ii) Mrs. Geeta Khanna W/o. Late Mr. Vijay Kumar Khanna (K-096) (iii) Mrs. Aruna Sharma W/o. Late Mr. Inder Sharma (S-121) (iv) Mrs. Rami Chhabra W/o. Late Mr. V.N. Chhabra (C-034) (v) Mrs. Sunanda Lal W/o. Late Mr. Rajeev Lal (L-136) 5. Noting of minutes of the GC meeting held on 08 th day of September, 2017: The Minutes of the last Meeting of General Committee held on 08 th day of September, 2017 and signed on 28 th September, 2017 were placed before the members of the General Committee. The General Committee took note of the same and took the minutes on record. 2 P a g e
6. Investment of funds: Mr. Ashwini Luthra, Treasurer of the Club, briefed about the rates as quoted by the Bankers with regard to the investment in RBI Bonds. It was updated that a rate of 8 percent and cumulative 10 percent interest is expected out of the said investment and it has been conveyed by the said Bankers that the return of 8% is being linked with the installation of ATM and simultaneous investment in RBI Bonds. He further added that it is proposed to accord approval to invest a sum of Rs.5 crore in RBI Bonds. The President expressed that the investment of funds in bonds and revenue generation from the Installation of ATM Machines are unrelated items and should be kept separate as it confuses the main issue of investment of funds. After deliberation at length, the GC concluded that the surplus funds of Rs.5 crore be invested after exploring all the safe investment avenues, which yields best return. Analysis of the yield offered under Perpetual Bonds/ SBI Bonds or RBI Bonds be done by the FC, compared and subsequently the decision be taken within 10 days. The members consented to the same and the Captain and the Treasurer were authorized to make the investment. 7. To take up the matter of Mr. Haldea s quantum of punishment (aspects relating to the case for upgradation of Mr. Haldea to A membership and associated items: This agenda matter was taken at the end of the GC meeting. The meeting for the purpose had been requisitioned by Mr. Vikram Seth, Ms. Shiraz Singh and Ms. Bubbles Suneja, members of the General Committee to deliberate and decide upon the captioned agenda matter. The President mentioned that the case of Mr. Gajendra Haldea has a long history. The inception of his case was much before the election of this General Committee. Subsequently with a change of mind by a Sub Committee member on the treatment of the case by the Membership Sub Committee, the matter had gone back and forth between the Disciplinary Committee and the GC. These are all minuted and are a matter of record. The requisitioning members were feeling aggrieved that inadequate punishment was accorded to Mr. Haldea and that the GC should meet even one day before the next election to decide the matter. The discussions in the GC became quite heated between those demanding severe punishment for the wrong done by Mr. Haldea and those who were pressing for moderation, mainly because the matter would not stop there and become embarrassing for the club. 3 P a g e
After having deliberated at length and having individual GC members express their views on the quantum of punishment for Mr. Haldea, it was decided that his membership be suspended for a period of 1 (one) month from the date of his punishment being notified to him and that his up gradation be deferred for a period of one year from that date. It was further decided that a letter be sent out all members stating unanimously severe consequences of any willful fake filling out of score cards on the player and the marker. 8. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair. The following items form part of the agenda under the head Other Items as circulated to all the members of the General Committee. (i) To consider Energy audit Report: The Energy Audit report as received from M/s. Padmashtdal Energy Services Private Limited having been circulated along with the agenda of the meeting was placed before the General Committee for its review and perusal. The detailed report covered several aspects and recommendations in order to improve the overall energy efficiency of the Club, thereby leading to significant cost reductions. Some investments approximately Rs.30 lacs, were required and the recovery would be within two years and an annual saving of Rs.30 lacs thereafter. It was stated that the next General Committee may consider the phased implementation of the project. (ii) (a) Hygiene Report and action taken report (b)proposal of Food Safety Management System-ISO 22000-2005 certification (c) Setting up of Laboratory for checking the food quality received/served. The Hygiene report and the action taken report having been circulated with the agenda of the meeting were placed before the General Committee for its review. In addition, the proposal of Food Safety Management System-ISO 22000-2005 certification was placed before the members of the General Committee. It was informed that M/s Aurigia Research Pvt. Ltd./Arbro Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has shown their interest in setting up and Operating Lab of their own in DGC premises for continuing quality check on food. An estimated cost of Rs.95, 000/- per month has been quoted as the cost of operations with the club having to allocate about 150-200 square feet to set up the lab. Subsequent to the in-principle approval by the Club, a detailed proposal will be provided by M/s Aurigia Research Pvt. Ltd. /Arbro Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The President expressed that the Lab be set up in the premises of the Club as it would be of immense benefit for the Club and will enable to ensure maintenance of health and hygiene at the Club. The same was discussed and the General 4 P a g e
Committee was in consensus. The President concluded that this General Committee has considered the matter of Hygiene with utmost priority and has initiated the possible steps towards attainment of the desired level of hygiene at the Club and its maintenance on continuous basis. The GC expressed that the report be forwarded to the next GC and put in the to-do-list for the next Committee. (iii) DGC Master plan: The President expressed that the philosophy behind the DGC Master plan is to develop a framework within which present and future infrastructure spends may be made. Presently the architecture is patchwork, unconnected to each other, does not meet the needs of the club members (see enclosure) and there are innumerable breaches of L&DO rules. Some architects have visited the premises but only one of the architects has provided proposal. It was decided that the proposal be put to the next GC for their further consideration. (iv) Review of Articles of Association of the Club: The President expressed that as already stated earlier, there is a need to modernize the Articles of Association/the Bye Laws/Administrative Manual to reflect the present and future needs of the Club. The present General Committee considered the matter and due to the paucity of time, delicacy of the matter and the huge time involved in the process, this GC would not be able to reach a conclusion. The President expressed that the question of all the deviations from the Articles of Association, including membership issues, need to be considered once and for all by the members of the Club and hopefully the necessary modification(s) in the Articles/ Bye Laws/ Administrative Manual will be taken up by the next General Committee, post-election, as the same needs a considerable and comprehensive review. (v) Mission Olympics: Catch them young: This idea had been mooted by the Captain and is a very worthy one. If the DGC can develop such a program it will bring glory to the players, the club and the country. The details need to be flashed out. It was urged by the President that the captioned matter may be taken up by the newly elected General Committee. (vi) Reforestation: While the forest may appear green and attractive, it is a provable fact that the forest has not only bated and thinned out but has been taken over by invasive alien species. The decay is imperceptible on a daily basis. To restore the forests of the Delhi Golf Club, the Club needs to have its own nursery with a chain link fence to protect the young saplings from sambhars etc. Mr. Pradip Krishen has been engaged to carry out a survey at an estimated cost 5 P a g e
of Rs.60,000/-. This has been committed for the purpose of conduct of survey and furnishing of the report thereon. It was decided that initial engagement with Mr. Pradip Kishen be done and basis the survey report, the path forward should be clear, as to what can be done for reforestation at the Delhi Golf Club and what would fit in with the overall plan. This has to be accordingly considered by the next General Committee. (vii) Creation of a DGC owned International Annual Golf Event: Presently the DGC invites the Panasonic Open or the Indian Open for major international tournaments. This is also a source of revenue and glory for the club. However, the DGC has to bid for these tournaments and they may or may not get the event. It was therefore felt that it would be appropriate to create a DGC owned international professional golf tournament. Quite a lot of work has been done in this regard and details will be sent separately in a file to the President/Captain/Secretary. Essentially while the DGC can host a visiting tournament, they presently lack the expertise to run their own tournament. Therefore for the first 3 to 5 years it was felt that the tournament be managed and operated through the aegis of the Asian Tour/PGTI with Mr. Shiv Kapur being the acclaimed host for the tournament and for a negotiated period of time, he would render the services to create the tournament together with Asian Tour/PGTI and also raising significant monies and events during the week of the tournament itself. For the contract period, the profits would be shared between Mr. Shiv Kapur and the DGC. The DGC would be expected to earn Rs.1 crore in the first year itself. It was planned that the first tournament can be held around November 2018 on the newly upgraded green complexes. It is recommended that the new GC takes this forward. (viii) Hygiene report: The matter has already been deliberated under item (ii) above. (ix) Energy Audit report: The matter has already been deliberated under item (i) above. (x) Training of Staff: The President stated that pursuant to the incident which took place on June, 25, it was desirous to train and up skill the service staff in order to achieve high members/guests satisfaction and build a sound service culture. Accordingly, the Club had approached Mind Leaders India, who agreed to train the staff as per their proposal in two phases. The first phase would be 6 P a g e
complimentary and would include identification of personnel or relocation of staff in some other departments etc. and the second phase for which the Club has to bear the cost includes training as per the proposal for a period of nine months. The first part of the study will commence on 09 th, 10 th and 11 th October. It was reiterated by the President that the training of staff is the matter of urgency and recommended that the next General Committee should take the same on priority. (xi) NDMC Case: It was stated that the NDMC Case is ongoing and the next General Committee may review it and take it forward. The next date of hearing is 10 th October, 2017. (xii) June 25 incident: The President stated that requisite actions have been taken on a continuous basis and the matter is presently under control. However, closure has to be brought with certain Government Departments of which the Secretary and Captain are fully aware. (xiii) Budget: The President expressed that the GC had adopted a new budget cycle i.e. January to December. The Sub-committee(s) will submit their report to FC by end of November 2017, so that budget for January-December could be decided in the meeting of the General Committee to be held in the month of December, 2017. The budget will govern the expenses in a more structured manner. The next General Committee may consider the same. (xiv) Re-carpeting of Car park lots: It was informed that the estimated budget for the captioned matter is INR 31 Lakhs. Carpeting of Car park no.1 is proposed to be done prior to Panasonic Open in November when the course is closed for a couple of weeks. (xv) Green Complex upgradation: The President apprised the members of the General Committee that for the proposed redo of 20 green complexes (18 greens of the Lodhi course and 2 practice greens) and upgrade the green complex, the proposal of Gary Player Design (GPD) has been finally selected after detailed consideration of all the bids received. An acceptance letter has been sent to GPD and regret letter sent to others. A very important aspect of his engagement would be that Gary Player personally visits the course, interacts with the members and asks them about the issues/ difficulties in the design phase and inputs those thoughts into his consideration. It would be of immense benefit for the Club to have Gary Player participation in person. 7 P a g e
(xvi) ERP: A draft agreement has been received and the next committee may negotiate it and conclude the deal, if they think fit to do so. It was recommended that the next General Committee consider the tight schedule and appropriate time frame required for the up gradation and the matter be taken up with utmost priority by the new GC. Mr. Rohit Sabherwal, Chairman HRD Sub-Committee stated that ERP is likely to be implemented by 15 th November, 2017 and it would enable the Club to be ultimately governed much better. This emphasis should not be lost. (xvii) Development of high quality website: The President explained that the DGC website is virtually defunct and needs to be upgraded to make it more interactive and informative. Only one party has quoted for it, the papers for which are passed on to the club. It is suggested that the requisite modification of the website of the Club be taken up by the next General Committee. (xviii) Ladies Section: The President had brought up the status of the Ladies Section, to which Secretary had stated that the Ladies Section is a section of the Club, and when it will become a subcommittee it is considered as a part of the General Committee and no more a section. After deliberations, it was unanimously recommended by all to maintain status quo. To this, the President stated that it should be left as it was and would be taken up in the next meeting. Subsequently, it is recommended that these matters be considered by the next GC. (xix) Membership case of Mr. Samarth Shergill/Related Membership matters: The General Committee discussed the case of Mr. Samarth Shergill with reference to the allegations that he was given undue favour in membership. The Captain Maj. Gen. KMS Shergill (Retd.) recused himself from the meeting as Samarth is his son. The Chairman Membership Sub Committee pointed out that the Membership SC in its meeting held on 31 October 2016 had noted the following The Secretariat informed the Committee that as per Club record, Mr. Samarth Shergill S/o. Maj. Gen. K.M.S. Shergill (Retd.) had applied for membership of the Club under Dependent In Time category (DT-5276 dated 15.07.1998). His date of birth is 06.04.1982. According to Articles of Association, Dependent has to apply for membership between his/her 18th to 22nd Birthday. Therefore, it was decided that the date of application should be counted from the date he became 18 yrs. i.e. 06.04.2000. which have been noted by the General Committee in its meeting held on 11th November 2016. 8 P a g e
The Chairman Membership Sub Committee pointed out that previously three similar cases had happened wherein the applications of the individuals were accepted before the age of 18 years and their applications were pushed back to the date when they turned 18 years. They have already been upgraded to member status. Additionally, there were several persons who had applied early/applied late whose applications had also been accepted by the club. This was a problem for the club to deal with in the future as similar issues would come up. No special dispensation had been accorded to Mr. Samarth Shergill. According to the above, General Committee decided that in future all cases dealt with by the Membership Sub Committee must be put up with clear explanatory notes/ examination of the case sent in advance to members of the Sub Committee to aid in arriving at duly considered decisions by the sub Committee. Responsibility and accountability of Secretariat staff to ensure that this procedure is strictly adhered to is essential. 9. Vote of Thanks: There being no other point, the meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Chair. Date: 21 st October 2017 Time: 5:39 PM Place: New Delhi SD/- SIDDHARTH SHRIRAM CHAIRMAN 9 P a g e