Powers and duties of officers and employees.

Secretary General is the Chief Executive Officer. He (She) is assisted by a Joint Secretary, Deputy Secretary(ies), Directors and others in discharge of office work.

Secretary General:

As per Rule 4C (1) of the Indian Red Cross Society Act XV of 1920, the Managing Body shall, with the previous approval of the President appoint a Secretary General and a Treasurer of the Society.

The term of office and the conditions of service of the Secretary General and the Treasurer shall be such as the Managing Body may determine by rules made under Section 5. However as per rules for appointment of Secretary General the tenure of service of the Secretary General is 3 years extendable by 2 years by the Managing Body of the Indian Red Cross Society with the approval of the President of IRCS. Minimum Age limit is 50 years and maximum is 60 years.

Provided that the term of office and conditions of service of the Secretary General and the Treasurer may be varied in like manner by the Managing Body.

The age of compulsory retirement of the staff shall ordinarily be sixty, but the Managing Body may, in special circumstances, continue or employ a person beyond that age.

The Secretary General is the Chief Executive of the Indian Red Cross Society, the St. John Ambulance Association and allied Funds and is responsible for the efficient administration of all the activities of these organizations to the Managing Body and the Executive Committee, St. John. The entire staff employed by these organizations is under his general supervision, direction and control and responsible to him for the proper discharge of the respective duties as assigned to them. He is responsible for the initiation of all matters connected with the policy, organization and administration.

He will supervise the Red Cross and St. John accounts under instructions of the Honorary Treasurer. He will initial all entries in the Cash Book, sign all cheques, issue receipts and check the monthly statements with the passbooks. He will sign the monthly salary bills and satisfy himself that all recoveries have been duly made. His financial and other powers are detailed in Schedule “A” of the Standing Orders. 

(In pursuance of the decision taken by the Managing Body at its meeting held on 16.07.2003, Clause 10 of the Standing Orders stands revised as under:

“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would specify to IRCS the powers which could be exercised by an officer performing duties of the Secretary General during temporary absence, under Standing Orders 9,10 &11”.

Besides the Secretary General the staff at the headquarters shall consist of the following officers who shall perform such duties and exercise such powers as are assigned to them from time to time:-

1.                  Joint Secretary

2.                  Deputy Secretary(ies)

3.                  Director (Dissemination)

4.                  Director (Personnel & Administration)

5.                  Director (Finance & Accounts)

6.                  Director ( St. John Ambulance)

7.                  Director (Blood Bank)

They will be responsible for the preparation of all cases requiring attention of the Managing Body, Executive Committee, Finance Committee and all other Committees that may be appointed by the Managing Body or the Executive Committee, St. John . They will carry out all other duties allocated to them by the Secretary General from time to time.

Joint Secretary:

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Joint Secretary shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Managing Body shall also be taken. 

Deputy Secretaries will carry out the duties of the Joint Secretary during latter's absence in accordance with the directions of the Secretary General.

Deputy Secretary:

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Deputy Secretary shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Chairman shall also be taken.

The current and savings bank accounts of the Society and its allied funds shall be operated upon jointly by atleast two of the following officers of the Society:

• Secretary General

• Joint Secretary

• Deputy Secretary/Director Incharge of Finance of the Society.

Provided that in case of financial transactions exceeding Rs.10,000/- one of the signatories shall necessarily be the Secretary General.

Director (Dissemination)

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Director (Dissemination) shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Chairman shall also be taken.

He will edit Red Cross Journal, Brigade News Letter and other publications which shall be kept up to date, drafts being submitted for approval to the Secretary General.

He will draft the annual reports from material placed in his hands and submit the drafts to the Secretary General.  Under instructions from the Secretary General he will deal with all letters concerning publicity at headquarters and will prepare Press Communiqués.  The Cinematographer and his staff will work directly under him.  He will supervise the preparation and distribution of films and slides.  He will sign all letters of technical nature concerning publicity, but any correspondence to the international bodies, Red Cross branches and instructions to the Depot other than those of a routine nature should be drafted for the Secretary General's signature.

Director (Personnel & Administration)

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Director (Personnel & Administration) shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Chairman shall also be taken.

He will deal with all questions concerning establishment and discipline except those involving new expenditure.  Questions of special importance will be referred to the Deputy Secretary or other officers concerned.

He will be responsible for the daily dak which will be opened under his supervision and distributed to the various Sections. He will receive all monies and registered letters and give receipts for the same.         

He will be responsible for the maintenance of the office buildings and property and for the upkeep of the vehicles.

He will sanction casual leave to subordinate staff.

He will check fortnightly the Red Cross and St. John Imprest Accounts as well as those of the Stores Officer and the Cinematographer.  These accounts are to be written up daily and the vouchers initialed by an officer detailed for the purpose. The Registrar should check contents of the safes fortnightly when he checks the Imprest Accounts.

Director (Finance & Accounts)

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Director (Finance & Accounts) shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Chairman shall also be taken.

He will be responsible to the Secretary General and through him to the Honorary Treasurer for maintaining the accounts of all the sections and funds administered from Headquarters. He will see that all income and expenditure is entered daily in the cashbook and that receipts are duly issued.  He will keep a watchful eye on the investments and bring any changes in the situation to the notice of the Secretary General.

He will prepare the monthly pay rolls and monthly statement of income and expenditure and will check them before submission to the Secretary General.

He will conduct quarterly inspections of all Depot account and will submit a report thereon.  Detailed procedure to be followed for maintenance and supervision of accounts is outlined in Schedule “E” of the Standing Orders.

As per Rule 5.11(iii) of the IRCS Rules, the appointment of Director ( St. John ) shall be made by the Secretary General on the recommendation of appropriate Selection Committee to be appointed by Managing Body from time to time. The approval of the Chairman shall also be taken.

He will maintain effective liaison between Headquarters and Brigade Districts by personal contact with the Ambulance and Nursing units through tours under the directions of the Secretary General and will assist the Officer-in-Charge of the Brigade Districts in the development of Brigade activities, especially as regards training camps, Ambulance competitions and recruiting of new Divisions.

He will help in the organization of new Divisions with a view to development of Brigade activities in those States where none exists.

He will watch constantly that the Brigade units maintain their efficiency and that the instructional work of the Association progresses satisfactorily.

He will assist the Secretary General in the disposal of routine correspondence with the Brigade units and Association Centre and carry out any other duties assigned to them by the Secretary General.

From time to time will conduct occasional inspections of the States at the Central Depot and report to the Secretary General any discrepancies that they may discover.

Director (Blood Bank)

Norms set by Society for the discharge of its functions.

As per IRCS Act, Rules and Standing Orders as briefly mentioned at 2 above.  

The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by Society or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions.

As per IRCS Act, Rules and Standing Orders.  Indian Red Cross Society is having its own rules framed by the Managing Body and the decision taken by the Managing Body from time to time.  Wherever the rules are silent, guidance is taken from the Central Government rules.  

Statement of the categories of documents that are held by society or under its control.

The documents held by the Society are annual report, annual accounts and budget and decisions taken by its Statutory Committees.  

The particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with or representation by the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof.

There is a Managing Body under the chairmanship of the Minister for Health & FW comprising 12 elected members and 6 eminent individual members nominated by the President of India.  There are opportunities for the participations of Red Cross members and individuals in its committees.

Boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meeting of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public.

General Body, Managing Body and other Statutory Committees.  General Body is for delegates as per rules.  Minutes of statutory committee meetings are maintained.  

Directory of the Society's Officers and employees.