Minutes of the 5^th Annual General Meeting

Venue: The Chumbi Residency, Tibet Road, Gangtok

Date: 12^th November 2005

The 5^th Annual General Meeting started with a welcome address made by the Vice Chairman of ECOSS, Dr. J. P. Tamang. In his address he informed the members present about the genesis of ECOSS. He said that the role of the civil society in the development of the state has to be felt more than it is being at present. He said that over the years ECOSS has developed into an umbrella organization, which which can support and work with different organizations.

He said that one of the greatest achievements of ECOSS has been the development of human resource in the form of the young people who have been associated with ECOSS. He emphasized on the importance of the development of human resource as he feels that all other development aspects, whether it is related with infrastructure or any thing else is related with the capacity of the human resource. ECOSS has been exemplary in keeping all its operations transparent and Dr. Tamang said that, this had made all the difference for ECOSS, the organization. He feels that environment is everything and we should work towards conserving our environment with ever increasing zeal.

After the welcome address, Mr. Tamang was felicitated on behalf of the entire ECOSS family for his outstanding achievement in the field of Microbiology Research and receipt of the prestigious National Bio Science Caeer Award, 2005. A certificate of felicitation was given to him. After the felicitation program Dr. Tamang’s gave a brief background on food technology and how he had managed to do some valuable research regarding local fermented food, and even get some of them patented. He said that nothing was unachievable and that the future generation should not shy away from doing anything because of the lack of proper facilities in the state. He said that a humble beginning was what was important for any project to be successful.

The next session was devoted to presentations by the Social Managers on their perspectives and experiences that they had gained while working for ECOSS and the Small Grants Scheme. Mr. Renzino Lepcha gave a brief background about the small grants scheme project and the involvement of the Social Managers in different capacities. The next was followed by presentations from Social Manager. The various learning and experiences were captured in words and phrases that outlines their experiences.

• Growth
• Learning
• Great experience and experiential learning
• Stepping stone
• Platform for takeoff
• Capacity built
• Focus
• Could make a difference
• Passionate working
• Team effort
• Learnt to work in a team
• From one personal window to many other perspectives
• Community empowerment methodology
• From frustration to becoming responsible and confident
• Improvement of communication skills
• Public speaking
• Knowledge in construction work
• Exposure visits helped
• Growth of aspiration
• Media experience
• Proposal writing
• Women are still backward and so have now found a calling
• Pleasure to work
• From an average student to doing work in communities
• Teachers were patient
• From being blank and frustrated to learning how to solve problems
• Learning how to work with communities
• Value addition
• Writing and monitoring skills
• Team work was the key
• Found out what is a real NGO
• Friends can be great teachers
• Great mentoring from seniors
• Great opportunity to grow
• Need to be humble when interacting with community
• Report writing and team building
• Documentation process
• How to measure success
• Learned how an NGO works
• It is important to have powerful mentors and head in NGOs - Opens doors
• Capacity building and documentation
• Learned about hard work and to take credit
• Understanding of team effort
• How an NGO channelizes the energy and passion to make a difference
• How to see that outcomes are met
• From secluded communities to reaching out to other communities
• Realization of the above
• Discovered in communities how unity or disunity plays such an important part
• Personal growth was phenomenal
• Clarity of proposal writing is very important
• Trust level improves with community
• Bench marks and the importance of the same in designing projects

The floor was open to questions from the house.  A member wanted to know why all the projects, whether funded by the Government or by other donors, were always focused on the state capital, and the rural areas neglected. Dr. J. P. Tamang while answering the question agreed that projects have been focused in Gangtok, but this decision was not being taken by ECOSS, and that there should be a joint effort at bringing development projects to the rural areas of the state. A question was also raised regarding the trainings that the Social Managers received through ECOSS, and whether they were useful to them or not. Project Supervisor, Kuldeep Rai while addressing the question said that trainings received could not be capitalized as the work was time bound and projects had to be completed in time. Had the project been of a longer duration the trainings received could have been more applicable and useful. A member also inquired to the Social Managers as to what skills would they like to get exposed to further and to keep the dialogue open for discussion and future opportunity.

Mr Ravi Pradhan a member of ECOSS expressed his concern that such capacity has been built and it would be good to have a mechanism by which the team could be retained and involve them in other projects. He also mentioned that the stories and experiences from the staff members were good but it would be good to listen from community representatives how they have been impacted and benefited from the interventions. As a community representative was present, Mr. Sunil Pradhan from PRERNA, Gairi  Gaon Tadong  volunteered to share his experiences and the success story about the waste management in their locality and the facilitation received from ECOSS.

He mentioned how a Social Manager was very committed and assisted the community in setting up a system for waste management and the institutional support received from ECOSS was of great benefit. The facilitation for exposure visits and the support to strengthen PRERNA the local CBO has been of great help.

Mr. Renzino Lepcha summarized the presentations of the Social Managers and explained that the Small Grants Scheme indeed had provided opportunity for ECOSS to work in mountain urban environments which was an important challenge. This initiative has equipped the ECOSS team with the right skills and attitude to take up similar projects in the near future in other urban centres of Sikkim.

Mr. P.D. Rai also took the occasion to highlight that raw talent and skills are inherent in our society and ECOSS has rightfully tapped this talent and channelized it in the right direction. He also mentioned that students graduating from colleges of Sikkim have high aspirations while skill set remaining low. There is a complete mismatch for which it is not the fault of the student community. The example set by ECOSS for demonstrating the mechanisms for transformation in young minds needs to be replicated by other institutions. If ECOSS can do it, others can do it. He also went on to motivate the team that this was a moment for celebration and not to think it was a kind of a farewell arranged during the annual general meet. 

The morning session was concluded with an invitation for lunch at 1:30 p.m.

The Post lunch session began with a welcome address by the Chairman Mr. Loday Chungyalpa. Copy of the inaugural address is attached as annexure 1.  This was followed by a presentation by the Executive Secretary on the activities undertaken by ECOSS from 2004 to 2005 and from April to November 2006. The copy of the power point presentation is attached as annexure II.

Mr. R.P. Gurung, Treasurer ECOSS presented the statement of accounts for the year 2004 to 2005. The major sources of income and the expenditure was highlighted and also the major assets that were accumulated because of the projects undertaken in the past one year. The presentation is attached as annexure III

The next session was the presentation of the budget for the year 2005 – 2006. Since due to the engagement with the Small Grants Scheme had delayed the Annual General Meet the budget for the whole year could not be prepared. Hence to suit the occasion and to budget for the coming five months a budget was presented. It outlined the various activities that had been undertaken from April to November 2005 and the expenditure in these activities and the proposed activities that would be undertaken from November 2004 to March  2005.  The budget was passed by the assembly by raising hands and approving the figures presented.

The final and important session of the AGM was discussion on the future course of ECOSS and the activities that needed to be taken up.  The session was Chaired by Mr. Loday Chungyalpa.

A brief talk was presented by Mr. P.D. Rai where he outlined the transition that ECOSS has undergone. He highlighted the huge interest generated by South Asia Regional Conference on Ecotourism (SACRE – 2002) organized and hosted by ECOSS. He stated that ECOSS should not lose focus and needed to come back to its core mandate. He emphasized that all resources needed to be focused on triggering one ecotourism meet and leverage on the ecotourism phobia the government has recently created. He went on to mention that it was important to get the perspectives of the different groups who are doing important work in the field of ecotourism and again put Sikkim in the ecotourism focus.

The various discussions that took place and the concerns highlighted by members include the following –

ECOTOURISM CONFERENCE - 2006

§              It is important to hear the voices from around the country

§              Benchmarking the  ecotourism potentials

§              It was agreed to have an ecotourism conference held by ECOSS in early 2006

§              Full support would be given by the travel trade as mentioned by Mr. S.. Pradhan.

§              Sikkim continues to evolve in the ecotourism field and ECOSS play an important role in this process.

§              Manpower and human capital available however funds are a constraint hence conference on ecotourism to be done on a paid basis.

§              The ecotourism conference should also focus providing opportunities for communities to exchange and share what is happening among them.

ECOWATCH

§              Have junior members of the ecowatch. Not to make amendments in the constitution but to look at having a tie with the six ecowatch schools and strengthen their eco clubs or.

§              As part of the ongoing monitoring of the Environmental Manual – strengthen the bonds with the schools  and continue to work with them.

§              Communicate with schools before the winter holidays and also finalize the winter camp for schools.

STUDY ON NATHULA

§              It is important to understand the fallouts of the Nathlua opening – the public need to make informed choices and somebody has to take the lead. A study will open a debate and involve more people to think and take the right decision.

§              How are the people of Sikkim going to be prepared – the locals are thinking one thing while the Chinese are looking at something different. They spent 10 days looking at the ports of Calcutta and only one day at Sikkim, this speaks for itself.

§              Would a report on Nathula make the desired changes or would some other form of intervention be more meaningful.

§              Whatever it may be – it is important that some individual or organization need to take the initiative to make this intervention happen.

§              The Government is doing its right, not to blame government but make an initiative to collate information and put it together for a public document. Need to have a mechanism to make the people more involved in decision making.

§              ECOSS is empowered as an institution and has a mechanism to disseminate the information.

§              Perhaps collaborate with other NGOs or any institution who would be interested and have a debate of some activity that would enable them to take part and understand the fall outs better and prepare the people of Sikkim.

In principle it was agreed that a study could be made, even collate the information and later look at the modalities of coming up with a study report.

The vote of thanks was conveyed by Mr. S.K. Pradhan, Executive member ECOSS. He thanked all the donor agencies for the programs and projects specially AusAID, UNESCO Paris, Government of Sikkim, NEC and USAEP.

He also thanked all the institutions and individuals who have supported the cause of Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim. He made a special emphasis on the continued support of Travel Agents Association of Sikkim (TAAS) and also congratulated ECOSS for the high level of transparency and accountability that was maintained by the organization.