Minutes of the 77th Annual General Body Meeting of the Association of Surgeons of India held at 6pm on 29th December 2017 during ASICON at Jaipur in Hall B at the ASICON venue at B.M.Birla Auditorium, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

1. The 77th Annual General Body Meeting of the Association of Surgeons of India was called to order by President, Dr. Shiva K Misra at 6pm on 29th December 2017. Dr. Sanjay Jain, the Joint Secretary collared the President, as the Hon. Secretary was unavoidably absent. Meeting started with silent prayer.

2. A President Dr. Misra welcomed all the members of ASI from far and wide in the country for attending the 77th AGBM.

B. Dr. Misra thanked the entire EC members for staying together and supporting the Office bearers in the great effort to steady ASI in the past two years. He briefly then narrated about the cases against ASI, informed the house about the hardship of going to different parts of the country with ultimate financial loss to the ASI.

C. Dr. Misra pointed out that it was a year full of activities and achievements for ASI. On the academic front, the six Regional Refresher courses at different parts of the country and the new format for FAIS credentialing were huge success. Social Security Scheme, Professional Indemnity Scheme and ASI mobile app are the various methods formulated to help the members of ASI. The year also witnessed the first ever ASI Ethics meeting at Vapi. IJS is making exemplary progress by organizing paper writing and publishing workshops and by getting it to online mode. ASI HQ office had a face-lift with total renovation of office complex with added facilities.

D. Dr. Misra mentioned that ASI now has a truly international website and user-friendly ASI app.

E. Dr. Misra informed the house that amidst all these positive activities, he had to fight for ASI at different parts of the country at his time, money and energy. He mentioned that all these were achieved by the unconditional support of the Executive committee, Past Presidents and sincere loyal members of the organization.

3. Dr. Sanjay Jain read out the names of members who had left us from this world and the house observed a minute of prayer in silence in memory of the departed souls. Hon. Secretary was entrusted to send condolence messages to the bereaved family.

4. Joint Secretary, Dr. Sanjay Jain informed that the Hon. Secretary’s report is printed in the Annual report book. It was unanimously passed by the GB as proposed by Dr. P. Raghuram and seconded by Dr. J. P. Sharma.

5. Confirmation of the Minutes of the General Body Meeting held on 17th December 2016 at Mysuru.

Dr. Sanjay Jain informed that the minutes were put up at the website, circulated to all members and was included in the Annual Report Book 2017. President asked for the concurrence of the house to pass the minutes. Dr. Easwaramurthy, Chairman of Tamilnadu & Pondicherry protested against passing the minutes. Soon a group of six members from the same Chapter (Dr. Sai Krishna Vittal {EC Member from TN&P Chapter}, Dr. Suresh Venkatachalam {Past Chairman TN&P Chapter}, Dr. Karthikeyan, Dr. Gnanaguruswamy and others) joined him and insisted on not passing the minutes without discussing the termination of membership of Dr. J.S. Rajkumar from TN & P Chapter claiming that he is one of the most “academic” persons in their chapter. Dr. Misra requested all those protesting members first to pass the minutes and take up the matter either in matters arising out of minutes (item 7) or in the item no 18 specifically dealing with disciplinary actions. Dr. Misra also informed those who were protesting namely Dr. Easwaramurthy, Dr. Sai Krishna Vittal, Dr. Suresh Venkatachalam, Dr. Karthikeyan, Dr.Gnanaguruswamy and two others that there is an injunction not to discuss the matter of termination conveyed to Dr. J. S. Rajkumar by letter dated 28th March 2017 from the Hon.Secretary and therefore in view of the order it was not proper to discuss the matter or to take any action pursuant the said letter. This group was determined to disturb the conduct of the GB and to violate the orders of the court at any cost. President kept silence when this group was protesting. All of them repeatedly mentioned that Dr. J. S. Raj Kumar being “academic” need to be retained in the Association and seems to have been the only ground. Dr. Arvind Kumar requested the protesting members to kindly cooperate with the Chair to transact important business of the GB and that the house had been kept disturbed for enough time by the protest only without any valid point to mention. Past Chairman of TN & P Chapter Dr. Sadasivam, requested to reconsider the termination of Dr. Raj Kumar. After hearing all those protesting members, Dr. Misra told the house that Dr. Raj Kumar had chosen to disregard the opportunities made available to him but instead had chosen to go to court. He was given all the opportunities provided in the constitution regarding his disruptive activities but he continued to disregard EC & GB decisions. The entire house joined Dr. Misra by voice to pass the minutes. Proposed by Dr. Ashok Godhi and seconded by Dr. Probal Neogi.

6. Confirmation of the Minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting held on 18th December 2016 at Mysuru, 25th March 2017 at Mussoorie, 3rd September 2017 at Vapi and the EC Meeting held on 26th December 2017 at Jaipur.

Dr. Sanjay Jain informed the GB that all but the last EC meeting on 26/12/2017 had been printed in the Annual report book and requested that it may be considered as being read. He also read the salient decisions taken at the EC meeting held on 26th Dec. 2017. One of the most important points was the termination of Dr. Dinesh Shah who was suspended by the GC who met at Mussoorie on prima facie anti ASI activities, who failed to turn up to the EC meeting on 26/12/2017 despite notice to defend his case or even send a reply.

7. Matters arising out of the minutes. Dr. Sanjay Jain informed the house that all decisions taken at various EC Meetings mentioned had been carried out. He made references to the follow up on Registration of Constitution and disciplinary actions.

8. Presentation of Audited Accounts Statement of ASI for 2016-17 and IJS for 2016 by Honorary Treasurer, Dr. C R K Prasad Dr. Prasad mentioned that the audited account, unaudited accounts and the budget for 2018 are printed in the Annual Report book. He briefly narrated about the salient features. The GB passed the accounts unanimously, proposed by Dr. Dayananda Babu and seconded by Dr. V. Prakash

9. Report on Regional Refresher Courses
Dr. Misra briefed the house that the year 2017 was an academically vibrant year. Six regional Refresher courses were conducted at different parts of the country with an attendance averaging 400 at each place. The eagerness of the postgraduates to learn clinical surgery and the enthusiasm by the teachers to contribute were equally commendable. For the first time ASI added value to FAIS by making the credentialing a teaching and refreshing course. He mentioned that all these activities of ASI HQ were made possible by the tireless committed work of one single person, Dr. Santhosh John Abraham, Director of Surgical Studies. The crisp academic program of this ASICON is also his contribution. Dr. Misra requested the house to give a standing ovation to Dr. Santhosh. Dr. Santhosh thanked the house for the gesture and the cooperation he received from every member.

10. Matters related to IJS
Dr. Misra mentioned that the decision of the Editorial committee of IJS to have the journal as online one to the members is in line with the green initiative and had been communicated to all the members. For those who are desirous of the print version, an annual subscription of Rs.600/- will have to be levied in advance. The GB passed the proposal unanimously proposed by Dr. Pankaj Modi Seconded by Dr. Prabha Om.

11. Announcement of Various Orations, Hon. Fellowships and Symposium for the Year 2018 Dr. Misra mentioned that the selection of awardees had been made by the committees and the names of the following awardees had been approved by the Executive Committee which met on 26/12/2018.

A. Col Pandalai Oration————————————-Dr. P. Raghuram, Hyderabad
B. Presidential Oration————————————–Dr. Dilip Gode, Nagpur
C. Dr. P.K. Sen Oration ————————————–Dr. Subramonyeswar Rao T, Hyderabad
D. Dr. Panchanan Chatterjee Endowment Lecture—(To be selected*)
E. Dr. Balakrishna Rao Oration—————————-Dr. Satish K Shukla, Indore
F. Prof. K. Krishnamoorthy Oration ———————Dr. C.S Rajan, Bangalore
G. Dr. Jaipal Singh Memorial Oration——————–Dr. Anand Kumar Varanasi
H. Dr. Ramesh Nigam Memorial Oration—————-Dr. Randeep Wadhwan, New Delhi
I. Dr. Shrish K Bhansali Memorial Oration————–Dr. Peeyush Sahni, New Delhi
J. Dr. Das Mohapatra Oration——————————Dr Shailesh Shrikhande, Mumbai
K. Brig. Dr. Rasamay Ganguly Memorial Oration——-Dr. Ashok Kumar, Lucknow
L. Padmashri Dr. K.N.Udupa Endowment Lecture—–Dr. C Khandelwal, Patna
M. Dr. A.K. Sen Sarma Endowment Lecture—————Dr. Pawanindra Lal, New Delhi
N. Dr. Santok Singh Anand Endowment Lecture——–Dr. Deepak Thomas Abraham, Vellore
O. Symposium
(i). Dr. Sanjiv Haribhakti, Ahmedabad
(ii). Dr. Abhay Dalvi, Mumbai
(iii). Dr. Rajgovind Sharma, Jaipur
(iv). AAFS- by rotation
P. ASI Professor 2018—————————————— Dr. R.K Jenaw
Q. Betadine Life Time achievement Award—————-Dr. Dilip Gode, Nagpur
R. Betadine Young Surgeon Award ————————-Dr. Abhimanyu Kapoor, Kanpur

Dr. Misra informed the General Body that for the last few years, the applications for most of the travelling fellowships have become sparse. The amount available for most of these fellowships is in the range of Rs 2000/- to Rs 7000/- only. The EC had discussed this issue in depth and decided to recommend to the GB to close all these fellowships and instead institute worthy fellowships.The General Body agreed to close all these travelling Fellowships and start 5 ASI Traveling Fellowships, each worth Rs. 50,000/-(Rs Fifty thousand only). It was also decided to accept the recommendation of EC to close Hari Om Ashram Prerit Rangachari Research award initiated with the financial support of the said Ashram which stopped the support 10 years back and has not responded to our request for many times. The EC had been empowered with the responsibility to form the guidelines for the selection of candidates from next year onwards. The GB unanimously agreed on this proposal, proposed by Dr. Jaisingh Shinde and seconded by Dr. V.Prakash.

12. Report on ASICON-2016
Organising Secretary of ASICON 2106 at Mysuru, Dr. G Siddesh with his core team Dr. H N Dinesh (Joint Secretary), Dr. S. Chandrashekhar (Treasurer) and Dr. Sarvesh Raj Urs (Rec.committee) came up to the stage. The Organising Chairman, Dr. Vasudeva Rao was notably absent. Dr. Siddesh narrated the peculiar hostile situation just prior to ASICON 16 purposefully created by the past president and also the pressure he had from few members from within his own organizing committee to sabotage the conference. He thanked the prompt leadership of ASI under the leadership of Dr. Misra to step in and infuse confidence to all in the Oragnising committee to march forwards to conduct the ASICON. He felt “Team Mysuru” had put up a great show in all aspects of the conference. The guidance from Centre made him realize that it is also important to refrain from extravaganza and thereby saving money to the Organisation. The Organising Committee had spent close to 10 lakhs of rupees to defend the parent body and the conference and was happy to bear that for a genuine cause. After all payments the Organising Committee has decided to pay a total sum of Rs 1 crore to the ASI, the highest ever paid to ASI so far by any ASICON organisers. An amount of 65 lakhs had already been paid and an additional 10 lakhs was paid to the General Fund of ASI. Dr. Siddesh and team with the GC members of Karnataka Chapter requested the GB to sanction payment of the balance of 25 Lakhs to the capital of Social Security Scheme of ASI, which could come to the membership any time. The house agreed to this. Dr. Misra congratulated the unprecedented services the “Team Mysuru” played in steadying the ASI from collapse and also emerging out with a huge contribution to ASI.

13. Matters related to ASICON 2015 Accounts. Dr. Misra informed the house that as per the MOU, the Organising Secretary should have sent to the HQ within three months the unaudited account along with Rs. 30 lakhs the minimum contribution ASI. MOU also contains the clause to submit the audited accounts and 50% of the profit to ASI by 30th September. Organising Secretary never complied with any clauses. Dr. Misra had informed the General body that he had been talking and writing to Organising Chairman, Hon. Treasurer of Organising Committee, Chairman and Hon. Secretary of the Haryana State Chapter for the last one year. ASI was forced to take legal steps as all avenues were found closed. The legal notice sent to all concerned had been returned and thus was forced to file FIR and initiate civil procedures for recovery of money due to ASI. Dr. S. S. Bhardwaj, Chairman of the Organising committee ASICON 2015 at Gurgaon had tabled a Photostat copy of “audited accounts” at the EC meeting at Vapi. The expenditure had been found hugely escalated and the EC had asked for submission of supportive documents for re-auditing. Till date no such documents had been supplied to ASI. The bank statement was showing a FD of Rs. 2 crores which later was found prematurely broken and money had been withdrawn almost a year and a half. The Bank was asked to freeze the operation of ASICON account, which was not done by the officials. The EC had decided to escalate the matter to RBI or Bank Ombudsman. Dr. Misra assured that the recovery of money will be taken as the priority of ASI and will take all legal steps for it. The General Body requested Dr. Misra to continue with the responsibility to follow up all cases pertaining to ASI which he agreed.

14. Reconfirmation of the Venue for ASICON 2018
“Team Chennai” with Dr. Rathnaswami, Dr. Vinayak Senthil & Dr. Vivekananda Subramonianathan made a presentation about Chennai and welcomed all the delegates to Chennai for ASICON 2018. Dr. Misra mentioned about the changes in the MOU for ASICON 2018 as decided by EC. The Team Chennai” agreed to function under the advice of HQ to make it memorable event.

15. Selection of Venue for ASICON-2019
Dr. Misra informed the General Body that two valid nominations were received by the Head Quarters– one from state of UP for Agra and other from state of Odisha for Bhubaneswar. As the few previous ASICONs are being conducted at North zone, the EC had deliberated over the issue and decided to recommend to the General Body to have it at Bhubaneswar. Dr. Sameerand colleagues from Agra volunteered to withdraw for the year and requested to resolve that the next meeting be awarded to Agra. Dr. Rajput from Agra still pleaded for Agra this year but the General body unanimously felt that ASICON 2019 be awarded to Bhubaneswar. Dr. Sandeep Kumar again made a request to record the selection of Agra for next year but Dr. Misra ruled out that as per constitution the venue is decided by General Body two years in advance only and it will the privilege and right of GB at Chennai to decide about the venue for 2020. The finaldecision to hold ASICON 2019 at Bhubaneswar was proposed by Dr. G. Siddesh and seconded by Dr. Gunwant Rathod.

16. Constitutional matters – President
President, Dr. Shiva K Misra informed the General Body that the constitutional amendments were passed by the GB at Ahmedabad in 2013. ASI had to wait for the minutes of that to be passed at the following GB at Hyderabad in 2014 before officially approaching the office of the Registrar of societies to approve. Since January 2015 the HQ had been persuading the formal Registration of the constitutional amendments. Usual inefficiency of any state department and more by local influence by the local powers to that the registration is delayed, kept the matter pending for so long. It was finally the order from the Hon’ble High court at Chennai on a writ filed by ASI finally the Registrar had started acting. It was painful to learn that the office of Registrar of Societies never had any documents on the constitution of ASI and the there was nocopy of the “letter of Registrar” produced by Dr. Rajkumar at one of the courts to get an exparte decision against ASI. Dr. Misra informed the house that after almost a 3 year long continued efforts by ASI HQ; the constitution of ASI is registered in the books of the Registrar of Societies at Tamilnadu. And as per the provisions of law, it has become applicable from the day it had been passed by the GB. This is a great achievement and hoped that this will further stop all litigations on ASI outside Chennai. The major changes insisted by the Registrar in lines with the Tamilnadu Registrar of Societies act and hence be applicable to all such registered societies areto replace the nomenclature of President Elect by Vice President and Governing Council member by Executive Committee member. The house felt happy and congratulated all whoworked behind this great achievement. This was approved unanimously by the General Bodyproposed by Dr. Rana A K Singh and seconded by Dr. Probal Neogi..

17. Status of various cases against ASI & its further course
Dr. Misra informed that many cases are pending against ASI at different parts of the country and most are unconsequential in terms of time. The oldest is the case at Rohtak, which Dr. Karwasrapursues and had been in its closing phase and he was optimistic on the outcome. He also briefed the house that Dr. Raj Kumar had obtained an injunction refraining the GB to “from taking any further action pursuant to the letter of termination dated 28th March 2017 from the Hon. Secretary of ASI to him.” Dr. Misra also gave a brief of the case at Supaul at Bihar filed by few against ASICON 2017 at Jaipur, which was dismissed on merit but costed ASI a sum of Rs. 15 lakhs. The General body re-emphasized as an experienced person Dr. Misra needs to be continued to take care of all cases in ASI till its logistic conclusion.

18. Disciplinary proceedings
President, Dr. Misra informed the house that as per the unanimous decision of the last General Body held at Mysuru with recommendation from the previous EC, the following members were suspended, served show cause notice, given time to reply and requested to appear before the EC at Mussoorie as per provisions in the constitution on disciplinary proceedings. None except Dr. Ramkumar and Dr. J. S Rajkumar replied. The content of the reply was that this EC and the President and Hon. Secretary have been elected through an illegal process and hence have no powers for any such proceedings. Dr. J. S. Rajkumar and Dr. K. S. Gopinath expressed their inability to attend such meetings also. The reasons being flimsy, the fact-finding committee appointed by the President reported their findings on the allegations, show causes, replies and the process carried out so far and EC unanimously decided to terminate their membership. The process will be completed by the ratification by the General Body. Again the group of members from Tamilnadu had started protesting and demanding to cancel the termination of Dr. Rajkumar from the ASI. Dr. Misra said that the GB has full authority to take decisions in the case of all except on Dr. Rajkumar where there is an injunction restraining the ASI to act on the letter of termination served to him by the Secretary dated 28th March 2017. Dr. Misra read out the names of the members terminated by the EC.

a. Dr. Ramkumar————————FL 9922
b. Dr. K.S Gopinath———————FL 3466
c. Dr. Suresh Vasistha——————FL 9258
d. Dr. Subhash Agarwal————— FL 6092
e. Dr. Pankaj Khurana——————FL 17495
f. Dr. Manoj Agarwal——————-FL 15250
g. Dr. Parvesh Nandal——————FL 16173
h. Dr. Ved Prakash ———————FL 15538
i. Dr. Jagir Nain————————–FL 17503
j. Dr. Dinesh Shah———————–FL 15155

The General Body unanimously agreed on ratifying their termination from the primary membership of the Association for proven anti ASI activities.

Regarding Dr. J. C. Baid, there was a request from EC members of Rajasthan to keep the matter on hold, as they were optimistic of a regret letter from him in this matter.The Group from Tamilnadu once again wanted to open up the matter of termination of Dr. Rajkumar by the EC claiming that ASI being an academic body should not throw out an “academic” man. Dr. Siddesh told the house that the entire General Body had seen the reactionof “few” people from Tamilnadu in protesting and wasting the time of it. The issue to be discussed here is simply whether a member had been involved in anti ASI activities or not. Dr.Siddesh mentioned that Dr. Raj Kumar from the day one after the GB at Gurgaon had been indulging only in destructive activities. He was an active partner in an illegal GB summoned by the then president at Nuh at Haryana, writing maligning mails about various members and leadership of ASI, filing cases after cases by him and his men on same grounds at different places and at times obtaining exparte collusive orders in company of the disgraced past president. He asked point bank on the face of the protesting members from Tamilnadu which of these activities is “academic” to consider revoking his termination. The Tamilandu Team had no answer while the rest of the membership from Tamilnadu present in the General Body kept their silence in the matter. Dr. Prabha Om mentioned that despite being a suspended member Dr. J. S. Raj Kumar had made all attempts to disturb the smooth conduct of this very conference by coming to the venue with men and tried entering the academic halls without even getting registered himself for the conference. The house by voice agreed with Dr. Prabha Om that the action of Dr. Rajkumar is highly condemnable and not in the interest of the Association and hence at no cost should be allowed to continue in the ASI. Dr. Sridhar sought clarification from the Chair whether Dr. Rajkumar had been given all due notices and show causes during the disciplinary proceedings against him initiated on his anti ASI activities. The President clarified that every single step delineated in the disciplinary proceedings has been done in letter and spirit. Dr. Misra cautioned the house regarding the injunction order obtained by Dr. J. S. Rajkumar from honorable Chennai city civil court in acting pursuant to the termination letter dated 28th March 2017 issued by honorary secretary. The President therefore refused to entertain any discussion regarding the ratification of EC decision regarding the termination of Dr. J. S. Rajkumar in view of the order of injunction. Dr. Sridhar then sought the permission of the Chair to move a fresh resolution before the General Body to terminate Dr. J. S. Raj Kumar from the primary membership of the ASI based on all his anti ASI activities. The President did not participate in or contribute to the discussions. The same members from Tamilnadu again objected while rest of the members in the General Body approved this newly proposed resolution to terminate Dr. J.S. Rajkumar from the Primary membership of the Association of Surgeons of India.

19. Presentation of Result of Presidential Election for 2018; 2019 & each one post of Executive Committee member from Gujarat & West Bengal Chapters for 2016-18 by Dr. Shiva K. Misra, Chief Election Officer & President. Dr. Misra as the Chief Election officer informed the house that Dr. Dilip Gode was declared unanimously elected as President ASI for 2018. Dr. Pankaj Modi was unanimously declared elected as EC Member from Gujarat. In the absence any applicants for the post of EC from West Bengal, he had the pleasure to nominate Dr. Somnath Ghosh. Dr. Misra informed the house that the election for the post of President 2019 was done in the most transparent way with no complaint from any quarters. A retired Hon’ble Judge of the Hon’ble high court and an IT expertwere appointed by the Hon’ble High court of Madras as observers and increased the credibility of this election. Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Kumar was declared President ASI 2019 with a huge mandate. The house applauded Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Kumar Kumar on his victory and Dr. Misra invited him to the dais. Prof. (Dr.) Arvind Kumar addressed the gathering and thanked all the members for their confidence on him and for electing him to lead ASI for one year in 2019. He emphasized his desire to support Dr. Dilip Gode in his activities in 2018 and take it up further with his passion on Safety for patients and Surgeons and promised his availability all the time for the cause of ASI.

20. Any other matter with the permission of the Chair.
Dr. Misra mentioned that he is in receipt of a letter from the past President Dr. Ashok Mehta toconsider having a footing in the NCR area for ASI with the help of those close to national powerto facilitate laison with central government.

Dr. Misra also mentioned about the role of ASI in various forms including legal in fighting againstthe newly proposed laws pertaining to dilution in training and permission for lateral entry tomedical field and particularly to Surgery. He urged the future leadership to take further steps in this regard.

Some members requested the membership fees hike may be deferred for some more time and it was decided to retain the present rates till 31st March 2018.

Dr. Rajveer Arya of Rajasthan moved a resolution “Jaipur Declaration” condemning the rising attack on doctors particularly surgeons by a small segment of society. There was discussion tojoin hands with IMA in this regard and finally the house resolved to take it up independently byASI to Union and state ministries. Which is as follows

“Jaipur Declaration”

ASI expresses its deep concern over increasingly false allegations and violence against surgeonsacross the country.

Association expects from different sections of the society, particularly from media to behave responsibly and with sensitivity, so that the trust between doctor and patient is not broken. Breach of trust between the two will have adverse effect on healthcare system of the country.

Surgical disciplines are the backbone of modern healthcare system, which require dedication of highest degree to give good results. It is matter of great concern that most brilliant mind of the society are treated like criminals.

“Surgeons should be protected and given immunity from legal/ extralegal harassment by the anti social elements of the society.”

21. Induction of the President for the Year 2018 and Speech by the incoming President Dr. Shiva Misra told that the responsibility of leading ASI and more importantly safeguarding its interest was done for last couple of years with pride and joy. He welcomed Dr. Dilip Gode, Nagpur to take over the reins of ASI on a trouble free mode and wished him all success and promised him all his support. The Presidential collar was exchanged and then Dr. Dilip Gode addressed the gathering as President. He thanked all the members for electing him unanimously as the President and promised to take ASI to higher heights with support of all.

22. Vote of thanks was proposed by the Honorary Treasurer ASI Dr. C R K Prasad.

23. Meeting was adjourned after singing National Anthem

PresidentOfficiating Hon. Secretary

Dr. Shiva K Misra Dr. Sanjay Jain
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