Article I — Name
The name of the organization is Pakistan Federal Union of Columnists (PFUC)
Article II — Objects and Purposes
The Union is organized to develop, educate and promote newspaper columnists; of the print and electronic media and to provide the public with better professional newspaper columnists through education and example.
Article III — Membership
1. The membership of the Union shall be composed of active members and other classes of members as determined by the Board of Governors.
2. Active members shall be Regular Members,
3. Regular Members shall be columnists in the Pakistan and other countries, either employed by newspapers or freelance, whose work is published on the Internet in any medium as online columns or journalism-oriented Web logs (blogs); and writers actively aspiring to be columnists.
4. There may be other classes of non-voting membership for organizations and individuals. The qualifications and dues of these other classes of membership shall be determined by the PFUC Board.
Article IV — Membership Application and Dues
1. Application for membership shall be on a form furnished by the PFUC
2. The person who intends to have membership of the PFUC, may obtain Membership form from PFUC website or from the General Secretary , shall pay dues to the Finance Secretary and finally shall provide filled membership form (with proof of the payment of membership fee) to the General Secretary of the UNION. Dues shall be determined so that the Union shall have sufficient funds to meet its projected expenses.
3. Any former member of the Union not presently a member shall be readmitted to membership upon payment of dues for the year in which he or she reapplies for membership.
4. By written notice, any member may resign from membership of the Union at any time.
5. Any member whose dues remain unpaid for three months shall be considered withdrawn, and his or her membership shall be terminated.
6. Member ship fee will be Rs 1000/ that includes Press Card and Visiting Card, however Chairman and BOG may give relaxation to any member up to 50% of the total.
Article V — Voting Rights
Each active member of the Union shall be entitled to one vote. Members may not be represented, nor vote, by proxy.
Article VI — Annual and Special Meetings; Representation
1. The PFUC shall hold its annual meeting at such time and place as may be designated by the Chairman or Board of Governors .
2. Special meetings of the Union may be called at any time by the Chairman or President. Such meeting or meetings can also be called on the written of the general secretary or three office holders or ten pfuc members subject to the approval of chairman .
3. Each member shall furnish to the General Secretary of the Union his or her postal address, email address, cell number and shall notify the Secretary of any change therein. There shall be sufficient notice of any annual special meeting; a notice shall be mailed of the time and place of holding the same, not less than seven (7) days in advance, to each member. Such notice shall be communicated through email or massage at cell phone or postal address provided by the member.
4. At all meetings of the Union, annual or special, each member shall be entitled to vote in accordance with his or her voting rights as set forth in Article V of these By-laws.
5. At any annual or special meeting for which proper massage/information has been intimated, those members present in person shall constitute a quorum for the proceedings of the meeting. A majority of the votes of such a quorum may determine any question put to vote.
Article VII — Board of Governors; Executive Council ,Advisory Board, Authority and Meetings
The general management and control of the Union shall be vested in a Board of Governors consisting of the Chairman, (in the chair), President (central), President Woman Wing, Senior Vice President, PFUC ex-presidents, Provincial Presidents Secretary General, Secretary Information & Media, Secretary Finance, three (3) PFUC members and three (3) Non PFUC members one from media , one from judiciary and one from education appointed by the Board upon recommendation of the President or other Board members.
2. Executive Council will consist of vice president(s), General Secretary (ies) from the provincial Body and well known journalists ,anchors and editorial members. Executive council may recommend necessary tasks/acts to the Board of Governors that may required to be performed for the well of the UNION.
3. Members of the Board of Governors and Members of the Executive Council are the Officer of the UNION.
4. President, and elected members of the Union,shall serve for one year;however chairman may extend duration of any of the mentioned.
5. In case of death, resignation or inability of any member of the BOG/EC to serve, his or her successor may be chosen for the balance of the current year by the Board of Governors/Executive Council except in the case of the President whose office shall be filled by the Senior Vice President. Any Officer who ceases to be an active member of the Union in good standing shall automatically be removed from the Board of Governors or Executive Council. The Board shall have the authority, on sufficient cause, to request the resignation of any Officer, or if necessary, to remove such Officer for the good of the organization. This action shall require a two-thirds majority vote of a quorum of the Board. “Sufficient cause” shall be determined by the Board, and may include absence from more than 50 percent of board meetings within a 12-month period or failure to respond in reasonable time to pertinent communications from officers.
6. Any Officer may resign by giving written notice to the respective General Secretary. Such resignation shall be effective in accordance with the terms of the notice, or upon its receipt if no date of resignation is specified.
7. The Board shall act promptly in filling a vacancy of an elective office, and may do so by simple majority vote of a quorum of the Board. Such replacement shall serve until the next annual meeting of the Society, at which time the vacancy shall be filled as provided elsewhere in these By-laws.
8. The Board of Governors shall hold its meetings at the call of the chairman at such times and places and upon such notice as it shall determine; and may adopt such rules and regulations not inconsistent herewith for the conduct and governance of the affairs of the Union as it shall see fit, and may alter and amend the same.
FOR Special meetings of the Board of Governors , President, upon written request by at least three Board Members, may refer it to chairman to call Meeting . However chairman may evaluate the need and will call meeting if he considers so .Meeting may be conducted face-to-face or by electronic means reasonably accessible to all members of the board.
9. Regular/general meetings of the Union shall be held at least once each quarter and will be called by the president with the consultation of Chairman.
10. A majority of the officers/board members in office at the time shall constitute a quorum, and when a quorum is present the majority of those meeting may determine any question within the objectives and purposes of the Society.
11. Meeting of the Executive Council will be called by the President in consultation with General Secretary at least once in year and the recommendation of the meeting will be forwarded to the Advisory Board .
12. There will be an Advisory Board, consists of senior columnists, journalists. PFUC will seek guidance from the Advisory Board when and where required.
13-Meeting of the advisory Board will be called by the chairman with the consultation of president , at least once in a year .
14-Intimation of all meetings will be conveyed to the concerned in writing (through email /SMS) at least seven days prior .
Article VIII — Officers: Terms, Powers, and Duties
1. The chairman will be the head of the PFUC, elected officers (at Federal Level) of the PFUC shall consist of, President (central), President Woman Wing, Senior Vice President, Secretary General, Deputy General Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary, Secretary Information & Media, Secretary Finance, secretary IT, Secretary Coordination, Secretary Membership, Secretary Programs, who shall be elected by a simple majority of active members attending the Annual Membership Meeting. Chairman and Board of Governors may create any other designation if require so.
2. The Board of Governors may appoint an officer and assign any task if desired.
3. Each elected officer shall serve one-year term.And one month before the expiry of the term, chairman will call the meeting for re-election of the officers and these will be elected by the simple majority of the present active members.
4. The President shall be the chief executive officer of the Union and shall preside at all general meetings except meetings of the Board of Governors and Advisory Board : and generally perform such other duties as usually pertain to the office of president and as may be assigned to him or her by the Board of Governors. The President shall have charge of the relations of the organization with other organizations and, in addition, shall have the usual powers of a president in accordance with these By-laws. The President is authorized to appoint and assign duties to any such committees the president deems necessary..
5. The Senior Vice President shall assist and coordinate the president in performing the duties and exercise the powers of the President at such time as the President is unable to act, and such other duties as the Board of Governors shall prescribe. He, with the consultation of President may call meeting of the Executive Council when required .
6. The General Secretary shall be responsible for providing notices of meetings and maintaining minutes of meetings, and in general shall perform the duties incident to the office of Secretary.
7-Deputy Secretary will assist and coordinate the general secretary in fiction in general and will perform the duties of General Secretary in absence of him. He will be all the meetings of General Secretaries of the provincial body when and where required.
8. Joint Secretary will also coordinate with Deputy Secretary and General Secretary in performing general functions and act as General Secretary in case of absence of General Secretary and Deputy Secretary.
9. The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for supervising the custody, receipt and disbursement of all the funds of the Society, and in general perform the duties usually pertaining to the office of Treasurer.
10. Information Secretary will be responsible to inform about the to all active members regarding every event of the Union
11. The Web Editor shall be responsible for operating and maintaining the Web site of the Society on a timely basis.
12. The Program Officer shall be responsible for conducting the general program i.e column writing contest held annually by the Union, Training program for the new columnists or program as directed by the Board.
13. The Membership Coordinator shall be responsible for recruitment efforts and maintaining the membership of the Union.
14. The chief administrative officer of the Union shall be the chairman and exercise powers vested in under by laws.
15. The chairman will also be the Head of Board of Governors and may give in anticipation approval if the Board meetings are not in progress any reason whatsoever.
16.Chairman and president may sign MoU with and other organization and have relations with them provided approved by the Board of Governors.
17. As the Union is registered, a joint account (includes, president and general secretary and Finance Secretary) of the society will be opened in any recognized bank. Amount will be withdrawn with approval of board and at least two signatures will be required for the same.
18. Before the registration of the Union, collected funds will be handled by Finance secretary with consultation of the Board.
Article IX — Dissolution
In the event of the dissolution or liquidation of the Union, its remaining net assets shall be distributed to such nonprofit corporations or associations as the Board of Governors may determine with simple majority. No part of such assets may inure to the benefit of any individual member or person.
Article X — Books and Records
The Union shall keep correct and complete books and records of accounts and also shall keep minutes of the proceedings of the meetings of its members and the Board of Governors/ Executive Council and shall keep at the registered or principal office a record showing the names and addresses of the members entitled to vote. All books and records of the Society may be inspected by any member for any proper purpose at any reasonable time.
Article XI — Fiscal Year
The fiscal year of the Union shall be determined by the Board of Governors.
Article XII — Amendments
1. These By-laws of the Union may be amended at any special meeting of the members of the Union at which a quorum is present by a two-thirds vote of the members present at such meeting; provided, however that any proposed amendment shall have been submitted to the members of the Union at least two (2) days prior to the holding of such meeting.
2. These By-laws of the Union may be amended by the Board at any regular or special meeting of the Board at which a quorum is present by a two-thirds vote of the Officers present.
Article XIII — Rules of Order
The latest edition Regulations of the Union, shall serve as a parliamentary guide in conducting all meetings of the Society
Article XIV—-Code of Conduct of the members Columnists
As a newspaper columnist, I will try my best to inform, educate and entertain my readers. I will work hard to provoke them to think — whether they agree or disagree with my efforts to depict truth as I see it.
I will offer my opinions and the reasons I hold them as clearly and as fairly as I can. I will never take advantage of my position to achieve unwarranted personal gain not available to others or use my column to settle personal scores. I will disclose potential conflicts to readers whenever possible.
I will never make up a quote, a source or a story when depicting true events. But I will reserve the right to engage in parody and satire.
I will work hard to earn and keep the trust my readers and editors place in me. I will never plagiarize. Whenever possible, when I make a mistake, I will correct it.
I will listen to my critics and, in person, treat them with dignity and respect because they pay me the high honor of reading me, even if they disagree. Similarly, I will treat with personal courtesy those whom I may criticize in writing before and after writing about them.
I will always remember that my job is a privilege and honor because being a columnist represents the basic Pakistani rights of free speech and open discussion.
I will remain in the limits set in the constitution of the Pakistan while writing and expressing my ideas and notions.
The Oath of Office
I, (name), do soberly swear, to advocate for the craft of columns, in the field of journalism, to abide by the Code of Conduct of the PFUC, and constitution of Pakistan in true spirit.
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The Columnist’s Prayer
Dear Lord, I live my life in mortal dread, some day I’ll die one breath ahead