• To promote inter-disciplinary research in the field of dryland agriculture and transfer of technology for rural development
• To provide a forum to members to express their views from a scientific view point, rationale and consequences of important national policies and programmes relating to dryland development
• To collect, collate and disseminate information on integrated dryland agricultural production and management
• To encourage and promote close association and collaboration among members belonging to various agricultural disciplines
• To work in association and co-operation with other national and international societies/ organisations having complementary objectives
• To undertake such other activities as may assist in or be necessary for the fulfillment of the above mentioned objectives
• To publish a journal at regular interval

1. The minutes of the last meeting shall be read and confirmed after corrections, if necessary, and signed by the President.
2. Any donations or presents received by the Society since the last meeting shall be announced and exhibited, if possible.
3. Names of persons duly proposed for membership shall be placed for approval in accordance with the Rules
4. The Executive Council for the ensuing year shall be elected in accordance with Rules.
5. The Secretary or in his absence, a person nominated for the purpose shall present the Executive Council’s report on the activities of the Society during the preceding year, an audited statement of receipts and expenditure for the year ending 31st December of the preceding year and a budget estimate of receipts and expenditure for the current year
6. Other reports and communications from the Executive Council shall be discussed.

1. Such meetings may be convened either by majority of the executive Council or by the Secretary when called upon to do so by requisition signed by not less than one third of the active members and stating the business to be transacted there at.
2. Notice of the date, time and place of the meeting and of the special business to be transacted there at shall be given to all the members at least fifteen days before the date of the meeting.
3. No business other than that included in the notice shall be transacted at such meetings , nor shall any non- member be permitted to be present.

The Society shall have Patron (s) who will be chosen by the Executive Council. The general Body shall elect the following members of the Executive Council. President, Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and 8 Members

• The Director, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture shall be a member of the Executive Council.
• The Editor-in-chief shall be nominated by the Executive Council.
• The term of Executive Council shall be for a period of two years from 1st January to 31st December.
• The Secretary and the Treasurer shall be persons staying at the headquarters of the society.

The election of the Executive Council shall take place by postal ballot. Executive Council shall nominate an Election Committee consisting of three persons from amongst the members not seeking election, from the place and head office of the Society, to conduct elections. The nominated Election Committee shall invite nominations for various positions of the Executive Council from the Ordinary, Life and Corporate members only as stated under rules. Proposals duly seconded should be made with the consent of the concerned member whose subscription should not be in arrears up to two months prior to invitation of nominations. The nominations will be scrutinized by the Election Committee and a 15-day period will be given for withdrawal of nominations. Subsequently, the ballot papers will be dispatched to all the members who have paid their current year’s subscription as stated above, by post giving specific instructions regarding the procedure of voting. The members will return the ballot papers to the Election Committee within the stipulated period. That ballot papers should be secret. After the due date is over, the papers will be opened by the Election Committee in presence of the contestants or their representatives, if they so desire. The Election Committee shall submit the results to the Executive Council which will announce the same in the Annual General Meeting.

The Secretary shall be responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the Society in accordance with the rules and directions of the Executive Council. He shall convene the meeting of the Executive Council, Annual General Meetings and Extra-Ordinary General Meetings in consultation with the President and shall be responsible for recording the proceedings thereof. The Secretary shall also represent the Society in legal and other proceedings as per section 6 of the Act. He will also be responsible to file a list of the Governing Body members every year in the office of the Register of societies as per section 4 of the Act.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial affairs of the Society. He shall submit to the Executive Council a statement of accounts duly audited by the registered chartered accountant appointed by the Society for each calendar year.

Any person shall automatically cease to be the office bearer of the Executive Council of the Society in the event of his leaving the country for a period of six months or more in continuation. However, his membership shall continue. The Executive Council shall be empowered to fill in such vacancies by nomination for the interim period only.

There will be an Editorial Board consisting of Editor-in-chief, and four Editors. The Editor-in-chief will nominate the Editors in consultation with the Executive Council. The Editorial Board will be responsible for all publication work of the society and shall operate within the terms of guidance provided by the Executive Council.

There may be local chapters in different Universities/Institutes which will be responsible for the local activities. To be eligible to form a local chapter, there should be at least 25 members from that particular place.

Secretary:

He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Society and custodian to all records relating to the society and corresponds on behalf of the Society. He has to take on record of all minutes of the Society, to convene both the bodies of the society with the permission of the President. He will also guide the. Treasurer in preparing the Budget and expenditure statement to put before the General Body for its approval.

Treasurer:

He is responsible for all the financial transactions relating to the Society. He has to maintain accounts properly along with the vouchers. He has to prepare the budget and expenditure statement of the society with the guidance of Secretary. He has to operate the accounts of the society jointly with the Secretary or President.

Office bearers:

They shall be responsible for doing the activities of the Society entrusted to them by Executives Committee of the Society.

Vice President:

He will assist the President, in discharging his functions. In the absence of the President he will perform the duty of the President as entrusted by him

1. The Executive Council shall meet as often as necessary, atleast once in 6 months and shall review the financial position of the Society, approve Ordinary Members and Life Members, review the progress made in the publication and other activities of the Society and such other matters as the Executive Council is empowered to deal with under the rules.
2. The Secretary in consultation with the President, shall convene meetings of the Executive Council and shall intimate to all the members of the Executive Council the date, place and time of the meeting and the agenda of the subjects to be discussed.
3. Atleast five members of the Executive Council shall form a quorum
4. The President, or in his absence, vice-President, who is senior in age, shall take the Chair. In the absence of the President or any of the Vice-President, the members of the Executive Council shall elect a Chairman for that meeting.
5. The ordinary method of voting for any decision in the Executive Council shall be by show of hands, but the votes shall be taken by ballot if a motion to this effect is duly carried. Ordinarily, the members of the Council shall be entitled to vote. However, when the votes are equally divided, the Chairman may cast the deciding vote.
6. Minutes of the proceedings of every meeting of the Executive Council shall be taken by the Secretary, or in his absence by one of the member of the Executive Council appointed for the purpose by the Chairman.
7. A copy of the minutes of each meeting of the Executive Council shall be circulated to the members of the Executive Council and placed before its next meeting for confirmation.
8. The Executive Council may appoint sub-committees to consider special items. The report of the sub-committee shall be put up to the Executive Council for approval.
9. Executive Council may suspend temporarily any member for his nefarious activities. Final termination of membership will be decided by the General body after receiving/hearing due explanation form the defaulting member.

The objective of regional chapters is to promote the objectives of the Indian Society of Dryland Agriculture by exchange of scientific information of regional interest with other Chapters, holding symposia/seminar/brain storming sessions/ group discussions and help in enrolment of new members.

Membership :

All members and life members of the Indian Society of Dryland Agriculture located in the zone automatically can become a member of the Chapter. Any member of the Society may become the member of the zonal chapter by making a written request.

A member may transfer his/her chapter membership to another chapter when his/her place of residence falls within the jurisdiction of the previous chapter.

A minimum of 25 members is necessary to form a zonal chapter at any Centre. The zonal chapter ceases to function , if the membership falls below 25, but can be revived when the membership is again 25 or more.

A chapter shall be empowered to collect admission fee and membership subscription of new members as well as annual membership subscription of continuing members and life membership subscription. The chapter shall be entitled to retain 10 per cent of all collections, to be added to the funds of the chapter.

A chapter shall maintain a register of its members and shall take such actions as may be necessary for collection of dues from donors and remittances to the ISDA.

Office Bearers :

The Zonal Chapter elects a local President, a Vice President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, and two other members of Executive Committee for tenure of two years.

Operational Fund :

The Zonal Chapter of the Society is authorized to open a bank account in the name of the Chapter in any scheduled bank. The Secretary and Treasurer of the respective Zonal Chapters operate the amount jointly. The Headquarters of the Society does not take any responsibility regarding any liabilities of accounts of the Chapter. The zonal chapter sends the accounts of the zonal chapter of the year ending up to 31 st March to the Headquarter, ISDA, CRIDA, Hyderabad, by the 1 st Week of April every year .

Meetings :

The zonal chapter holds at least two general body meetings in any year in addition to the annual business meeting held for the election of its Executive Committee. The zonal chapter Secretary convenes this meeting in consultation with the President. The agenda and the notice for the meeting are given in advance.

Reports :

The zonal chapter sends a brief and concise account of its activities conducted during the previous year to the Headquarters of the society for being included in the Annual Report of the Society.