There shall be three classes of members:

i. Life members

ii. Ordinary members

iii. Honorary members

iv. Donor

ELECTION OF MEMBERS

A Life Member or an Ordinary Member shall be proposed by any two existing members of the Society to whom the nominee is known. The names of the candidates, and those proposing them, shall be placed before the Executive Council.

Members shall be elected either by a unanimous vote of the Executive Council or by a simple majority of votes of the members present at a General Body Meeting if the Executive Council fails to arrive at unanimous decision.

The newly elected members will be formally admitted to the Society at a General Body Meeting. The eligibility for being proposed a member will be fixed by the General Body from time to time. The membership of a new member will be effective after he/she deposits registration fee and the annual membership or life membership fee.

Honorary members who are distinguished geneticists and plant breeders, shall be recommended to the Society by the Executive Council after getting consents from the nominated scientist and elected at a General Body Meeting by a four fifths majority of the members present and voting at the meeting.

A panel of names for honorary membership will be selected by a collegium of four each of the past and the incumbent Presidents, Secretaries and Editors of the Society. The number of honorary members

shall not exceed five percent of the total membership at the time of their election.

PRIVILEGES OF MEMBERS

The Life and an Ordinary Members shall have the right to vote at all meetings of the General Body, to propose candidates for admission to the Society and shall have other rights, privileges and duties as mentioned in various sections of this Constitution and amended from time to time by the General Body.

They shall also be entitled, so long as their annual subscription (in case of annual members) is not in arrears, to receive a printed copy of each issue of the Society’s journal and such other publications of the Society as the Executive Council may determine and, access to all the publications on the Society’s website.

The rights and privileges of a member will cease in case of default in dues to the Society of the type and duration determined by the General Body.

Honorary members shall enjoy all the privileges of Ordinary Members without having to pay the subscription, except that they shall not be eligible to contest for any office or vote at the meetings of the General Body, if they are not also life or ordinary members.

FEES

There shall be no admission fee but a registration fee fixed by the General Body.

There will a lifetime membership fee for newly admitted Life Members and an annual membership fee for Ordinary Members as fixed by the General Body from time to time on recommendation of the Executive Council.

The annual subscription fee prevailing at the time of the membership is payable every year in advance, and shall become due on the 1st day of each financial year (April to March), except that a candidate elected during the month of February or March shall not have to pay the subscription for the current year unless he desires to receive the publications of the Society issued to the members in that particular year.

The life membership fee shall be equal to twelve annual subscriptions payable in one to three equal installments to be paid within a year from the time a member applies for life membership.

Ordinary Members, who have held their membership of the Society for more than twelve years without break, shall be eligible to commute the membership fee paid in the previous six years, towards payment of life membership fee. The members shall submit applications for commutation in writing to the Secretary of the Society accompanied by the balance of life membership fee in lump sum.

After the lapse of one year of subscription falling in arrears, the membership will be cancelled automatically.

Within one month of the end of each financial year, the Treasurer shall send reminder to every member, whose subscription is in arrears. If the arrears are not paid within three months of the dispatch of the letter, the Executive Council shall remove the member’s name from the Society’s register.

Any member whose name has been removed from the register of the Society under the preceding rule may seek admission as a new member on payment of registration fee and the membership fee.

Donor: Any person paying a lump sum of Rs. 10,000/- (For Foreign: **US $500) only, can become a donor of the association, An INDIVIDUAL DONOR shall be all the rights and privileges of a member during his/her lifetime.

Note: All bank draft should be drawn in favour of “Treasurer, The Indian Society of Genetics, Bio-Technology Research & Development (ISGBRD) payable at any branch in Agra. Members are requested to mention their membership No. while making any correspondence to ISGBRD office.