GBC Meeting Daily Report
Day 1: 7 February 2023
The GBC meeting opened with Srila Prabhupada Guru Puja prayers followed by a reading from the Srimad Bhagavatam by Bhaktimarg Swami.
The EC Chair, Bhanu Swami, shared a brief report of some assignments overseen by GBC EC. Some of these assignments include:
* Development of Global Property Office
* Coordinating with the Legal office which was active with several tasks including Will for GBC members and improvising systems
* Actively working with Shastri Advisory Council
* Assisted to oversee CPO review
* Interacting with ISKCON leaders in relation to Ukraine crisis
* Assist with GBC-BBT issue
New GBC office members were elected. They are :
Revati Raman Dās, Next Chair
Guru Prasad Swami, First Vice Chair
Tapan Misra Dās, Second Vice Chair
The GBC budget, prepared with coordinated efforts of EC and Mahamani Govinda Dās was released. Budget was allotted for multiple GBC agencies, including:
* Child Protection Office
* Deity Ministry
* Constitutional Committee
* Sannyasa Ministry
* Cow and Agriculture Ministry
* Vaishnavi Ministry
* GBC Executive Office
* Legal Office
* ISKCON News
* Dandavats
The North American Council (NAC), a collective body of GBCs, Presidents, and Zonal Supervisors submitted documents to form an official Regional Governing Body (RGB). While the NAC has been functioning for many years, becoming an official RGB will ensure NAC decisions are officially registered and fully functional per ISKCON Law. This proposal will be reviewed by the ISKCON Legal department and sent back for a formal vote.
In the afternoon, the GBC began the process of reviewing official proposals to become ISKCON law. Proposals are reviewed by the GBC Deputies in advance of the GBC meetings. When a proposal is brought to the GBC it is first presented by the chair of the Deputies, who shares comments of the Deputies on that individual proposal, including its positive/negative features. After that the GBC discusses the proposal and then holds a straw vote, or preliminary vote. That vote is tabulated and the results shared with the original proposer, who may choose to modify the proposal based on those comments and straw vote results. A few days later the proposal is again presented to the GBC body for a final discussion and vote.
Hare Krishna