Article V

MEMBERSHIP

(A)(a)(i) Any person of the age of 18 or over, who accepts Article I, shall, on making a written declaration in form 'A' and on payment of triennial subscription of Rs. 3.00 only become a primary member of Congress provided that he/she is not a member of any other political party, communal or other, which has a separate membership, constitution and programme

ii) No person shall be eligible to become a primary member except at his permanent place of residence or at a place where he carries on his business or work;

(iii) The term of membership, Primary and Active, shall be from 1st of January of the year or from the date of enrolment of a member upto 31st of December of the following third year.

(iv) Permanent Register of primary members within their jurisdiction shall be maintained by every Block/Constituency and City/Town Congress Committee with copies to the District Congress Committee, as per prescribed rules;

(v) Renewal of primary membership will be deemed to have been completed by depositing requisite membership fee.

(A) (b) Any primary member may become an Active Member, on enrolling 25 primary members triennially, if he fulfils the conditions laid down in Article V (B).

(A) (c) The triennial subscriptions paid by primary and active members shall be distributed in the following proportions between the various Congress Committees:

AICC     10%
PCC      25%
DCC      25%
Subordinate CCs 40%

Note: 40% share of Primary and Active Membership subscriptions to be proportionately distributed amongst various Subordinate Congress Committees below the DCC shall be determined by the Pradesh Congress Committee concerned.

(B) ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

The following categories of persons who are primary members are eligible to be Active Members :

(i) Members of Panchayats, Block Development Committees, Zila Parishads, Notified Area Committees, Town Area Committees, Municipa; Committees, Municipal Corporations, other local bodies, Metropolitan Councils, State Legislatures and Parliament;

(ii) Those who are actively connected with such organisations as are recognised for the purpose by the Working Committee;

(iii) Freedom Fighters who have undergone imprisonment or were externed or were underground or were penalised for participating in freedom movement;

(iv) Any person who has been a primary member for two consecutive years;

(v) Any other person approved by the Congress President.

Every Active Member will have to fulfil the following conditions and make a declaration in Form 'B' under his/her signature :
(a) He/She is the age of 21 and over;
(b) He/She is a habitual wearer of certified Khadi;
(c) He/She abstains from alcoholic drinks and intoxicant drugs;
(d) He/She neither believes in nor practices untouchability in any shape or form and undertakes to work for its removal;
(e) He/She believes in an integrated society without distinction of religion or caste;
( f) He/She undertakes to perform minimum tasks including manual labour as may be prescribed by the Working Committee;
(g) He/She does not own any property in excess of the ceiling laws applicable to him/her;
(h) He/She subscribes to and works for promoting the principles of secularism, socialism and democracy; does not, directly or indirectly, openly or otherwise, adversely criticise the accepted policies and programmes of the party, except through party forums;
(i) He/She shall subscribe to the periodicals approved by AICC.

(C) TRAINING FOR ACTIVE MEMBERS

(1) Every Active Member shall undergo a minimum training as may be prescribed by the Working Committee.

(2) No Active Member shall be entitled to contest for the election to:
(i) All India Congress Committee,
(ii) Pradesh Congress Committee,
(iii) Executive of the District/City Congress Commitee,
(iv) Parliament, the State Legislature, Metropolitan Councils or Local Bodies contested on party ticket;

Unless he undertakes to undergo a minimum training as may be prescribed by the Working Committee.

3) No person shall be selected for election on party ticket to Parliament, State Legislature and Local Bodies unless he is an Active Member.

(D) RENEWAL OF ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP

Active Membership may be renewed by filling up the membership Renewal Form (C).

Rule Under Article V - Membership forms :

1. The Pradesh Congress Committee shall print Primary and Active Membership forms. But the PCC Executive may authorise DCCs in writing to print membership forms, both the Primary and Active. Any DCC, printing the membership forms without such authorisation, shall be liable to disciplinary action.

2. Membership forms shall be serially numbered and in the case of those printed by DCCs they should bear the name of the District concerned as well. Full details of forms so printed shall be supplied by the DCCs to the PCC before they are issued to subordinate Congress Committees.

3. In the case of Primary membership forms, they should be bound in books of 25 forms each.

4. (a) The District Congress Committee shall be primarily responsible for the enrolment of members in the district. The PCC shall issue membership forms to the DCCs which in turn shall issue them to the subordinate Congress Committees and through them to individuals. Not more than 1250 Primary membership forms and 50 Active membership forms shall be supplied to an individual at a time. However, in the case of MPs, MLAs, MLCs and AICC members and PCC Office-bearers, 2500 Primary and 100 Active membership forms may be supplied to such individuals at a time. More membership forms shall be supplied to individuals only when full account of the forms already supplied is rendered and the fees realised thereof are paid.

b) If there are complaints against the subordinate Congress Committees that they are not making available enough membership forms, the DCC may issue them to individuals and may, if it deems fit, take disciplinary action against the committees concerned. If there are complaints that the DCCs are not issuing forms properly, the PCC shall directly issue forms to committees and individuals and may also take disciplinary action against the DCCs concerned.

(c) Forms for enrolment of members shall in no case be issued to individuals who are not at least primary members of the Congress.

5.(a) When membership forms are issued to individuals or Committees, a signed acknowledgement shall be obtained in all cases and an undertaking to return the unused forms with proper accounts, whenever called upon to do so, should be obtained.

(b) When unused membership forms are returned by individuals or Committees a signed acknowledgement shall be issued. In the event of any individual failing to return the unused forms and/or accounts in time he shall be disqualified from contesting the organisational elections.

6. (a) The PCC shall maintain separate registers for the issue of forms, both Primary and Active Members, showing the number of forms, both Primary and Active Members, showing the number of forms issued to each Committee or individual with their serial numbers and dates of issue and return of unused forms.

(b) The DCCs and the subordinate Congress Committees should also maintain similar registers.

c) In order to give the Party a well informed and ideologically oriented cadre, the Congressmen at all levels shall participate in the study programme laid down by the Working Committee for Primary Members

7. (a) No person shall be enrolled as a member by any Committee or individual unless he pays the full subscription and in the case of an Active Member unless he also fulfils the conditions laid down in Article V (B) of the constitution.

(b) An Active Member shall be considered to have fulfilled the conditions laid down in article V (B) unless the Subordinate Congress Committee or District Congress Committee concerned reports against his or her continuance as an Active Member and the PCC executive thereafter decides to remove his or her name from the list of Active Members.

8.(a) The PCCs shall send to the AICC report of members enrolled during the year giving details of Primary and Active Membership figures within two months of the last date of enrolment for the corresponding year. Along with this report, the PCC shall also send the full quota of membership fees and Congress Fund due to the AICC as well as a list of Active Members with full particulars.

(b) Any Pradesh Congress Committee or its subordinate Committee which fails to comply with these rules shall be liable to disciplinary action.

9. The Pradesh Congress Committee shall make provision in its Constitution or Rules for the proper distribution and return of membership forms within the Pradesh.

10. Primary and Active membership forms printed or issued for one District shall in no case be used in another District without obtaining the prior approval of the PCC concerned. ;