Incoming district leaders get groomed at the Rotaract Institute

This year the Rotaract Zone Institute was hosted by RID 3090 (Punjab, ­Haryana and Rajasthan) at Chandigarh and Barog, Himachal Pradesh, in April for the DRREs, DRRNs and District Rotaract Secretaries Elect under the leadership of DG Parveen Jindal, Event chairmen PDRR Sahil Bhateja and DRR Shubham Lila. Inspired by the annual Rotary Institute, it is a four-day multi-
district training event for the incoming Rotaract leaders of South Asia (zone 1(b), 4, 5, 6 and 7). The programme was initiated as the official DRRs Elect training programme in the Rotary year 2013–14.

Earlier in January this year 17 sessions were conducted by the institute committee in a hybrid programme. The faculty included PRIP Rajendra Saboo, RI directors Mahesh Kotbagi and A S ­Venkatesh, PRID Bharat Pandya, RI’s Rotaract Committee chair Ravi Vadlamani and committee member Sneha Shakya, RI general secretary John Hewko, RI Global Initiatives supervisor John Hannes, Club and District support coordinator from RI South Asia Office Joseph Thomas, past MDIO presidents Amit Singhal, Rajesh ­Subramanian, Sahil Bhateja and Yatin Sehgal, RSAMDIO president ­Kaushal Sahu and a host of PDR₹ PDGs Vijay Gupta (3090), Ashish Desai (3054), Vijay Arora (3090), who were former Rotaractors,
also addressed the incoming leaders.

Sessions discussed included developing leadership skills, fundraising techniques, developing partnerships outside Rotaract, strategies to strengthen the Rotaract clubs, understanding the RI structure and the MDIO, developing Rotary-
Rotaract relationship and Rotaract protocols. Financial management, time management, enhancing Rotaract’s public image through social media and DRRs’ official club visits were also discussed to help the incoming district leaders function smoothly through their year.

Membership dues

From the next Rotary year beginning July 2022, Rotaractors will pay dues — $8 for community-based clubs and $5 for institution-based clubs — annually to Rotary International thus recording proper membership. This important aspect was discussed at length with the district leaders so that they will explain its significance to the Rotaractors in their respective districts. A survey done world over earlier pointed to the concurrence to the new RI policy by majority of Rotaractors. The RI Board will soon announce when, how and where the membership dues will have to be made.

The district leaders were urged to explain to the Rotaract clubs the benefits of paying dues to RI, how their membership will enhance benefits for the club and make the club eligible to avail global grants, RI awards and other leadership development opportunities.

Over 100 delegates from 34 districts (India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Dubai) participated in person and Rotaractors from Pakistan and Bangladesh were present online for the institute at both the venues. This is the highest registration crossing the participation of 29 districts in the 2019 Rotaract Zone Institute held in Vapi, Gujarat.

The PDRR council of the host district RID 3090 provided great support which immensely helped in the smooth success of the mega event. The guests from across India and overseas had a memorable stay during the four days of the institute in addition to the vast knowledge they acquired participating the enriching workshops and lectures delivered by eminent speakers.

The Rotaract Zone Institute for 2023 will be hosted by RID 3141.

The writer is a past president of RSAMDIO and the Rotaract chair of RID 3090.