The meeting also decided that the Parishad will have one Advisory Council which will consist of (a) the Acharyas and Gurus of the various sects and Sampradayas of our faiths (b) Saints (c) Reputed thinkers, Philosophers and guides of our philosophy.

The meeting nominated Swami Chinmayanand as the Acting President of the" Parishad, Shri S. S. Apte as the General Secretary and Shri Lalchand Hirachand, Shri M.N. Ghatate as Treasurers.

The General Secretary was authorised to Co-opt secretaries for the organisational work in the Central Office of Parishad as well as its units in different states of India and also foreign countries.

In the meeting held at Prayag on 21.1.1966 it was decided to draft the constitution of the Parishad and a committee of 6 persons namely Shri Ramaprasad Mukherjee, Shri C.B. Agarwal, Swami Chinmayananda, Shri Ramchandra Rao, Shri Hardatta Rai Sungla and Shri S. S. Apte was appointed.

On 28th April 1966 Shri C.B. Agarwal, Convenor of Constitution Drafting Committee presented the Draft Constitution, which was discussed and finally adopted. The following were the subscribers to the memorandum of Association. 1. H.H. Shri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar 2. Shri Rama Prasad Mukherjee, 3. Sri C.B. Agarwal, 4. Shri C.M. Khatau, 5. Shri A.G. Ramachandra Rao, 6. Sri H.G. Advani, 7. Sri Balasundaram, 8. Sri M.N. Ghatate, 10. Sri Nagappan Nair.

With the adoption of the Constitution, the President formally announced the legal foundation of the Parishad. He also announced the formation of the first board of Trustees and first Governing Council of the Parishad.

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Board of Trustees

Governing Council

Vishva Hindu Parishad was registered as a Society under Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 (Punjab Amendment) Act 1957, as the Union Territory of Delhi in Delhi on 8.7.66 under Registration No. S 3106.

The Board of trustees constitutes the General Body of the Parishad and it has thus the powers and authority to manage and administer its affairs.

In the meeting held on 28.4.66 it was resolved that all subscriptions towards Life Memberships shall form corpus of the Society and these shall be kept in Fixed Deposits in Banks or be invested in the Unit Trust of India or in such other authorised Securities as the Treasurers may approve of. It was further decided that the corpus of the life Membership Subscriptions should not be drawn upon and that only the interest accruing thereon might be utilized. The Membership subscription was fixed at Rs. 1,000/-.

It was also decided by the Board of Trustees in its meeting held on 8.1.78 that all members of the Board of Trustees and Governing Council must become Life Members.

When the question of whole time workers was raised Shri Maharanaji volunteered to pay Rs. 1,000/- each on behalf of the General Secretary and the Organising Secretary as their life membership subscription.

Some Trustees voiced the view that dedicated services should be sufficient to qualify a person to be a member of those bodies. Payment of Rs. 1,000/- should not be a precondition.

It was, however, generally agreed that as far as possible all members should try to be Life Members.

The Governing Council at its meeting held on 14.7.83 decided that Foreign Aajiwan Hitchintaks may be charged a subscription of Rs. 2,000/-. It was also decided in the meeting that Aajiwan Hitchintaks of Central VHP enrolled from all over the Country should also be treated as Aajiwan Hitchintaks of respective state units.

The first meeting of the Executive Committee of VHP was held in Mysore on 27th April 1966 under the Chairmanship of H.H. Jayachamaraja Wadiyar President of VHP. Opening the deliberations the president said, "There is a great need to revive and re-emphasize the moral and spiritual values propounded in Hindu Dharma in the context of modern life. The VHP has been successful in bringing together the heads and the Acharyas of various Sects and Sampradayas of the great Hindu brotherhood on a common platform during its recent Prayag Sammelan. The response of the people to the call of the Parishad is also encouraging. It is now the duty of the Parishad to canalise the enthusiasm of the people into proper constructive channels and take active steps to realize its laudable objectives. The President urged upon the Parishad to spread the message of Hinduism among the Hill tribes and backward groups. He stressed the importance of the study of Sanskrit for a proper appreciation of our Dharma and the need to preserve the tradition of our ancient classics.

In the meeting of the Governing Council held on 24th August 1966 in Bombay it was decided that VHP organisation should be state-wise, in fitting cases even region and districts should be allowed to form their committees and go ahead with the work. The provincial committees should be formed and the appointment of the office bearers be made on suggestions and recommendations of the provincial workers.

The General Secretary was directed to establish contacts with the workers of Vishva Hindu Parishad in foreign countries and to help them establish units of Parishad and do all that was necessary to adopt them as associate units.

The governing Council at its meeting held in New Delhi on 25th & 26th 1970 decided that for quick implementation of decisions by the Trustees and the Governing Council and also facility of work of the functioning of Parishad, a Standing Committee of the Governing Council be framed from amongst members for almost the members of the Governing Council.

A sub-committee composed of the following was appointed by the Governing Council on 17.12.68 to frame Byelaws of Parishad.

1. Shri C.B. Agarwal, 2. Shri V. Nagappan Nair, 3. Shri T.L. Narayana 4. Shri Rajpal Puri, 5. Shri M. V. Jayakar committees should be formed and the appointment of solicitor, 6. Shri M.P. Degweker.

The Governing Council at its meeting held on 18.12.68 considered the Byelaws as prepared by the sub- committee and adopted it with certain modifications.

The Board of trustees at its meeting held on Jan. 1988 has made the following amendments in its Rules & Regulations so as to enable the Organization to expand its Governing Council and make it more representative.

There shall be a Central Standing Committee consisting of not more than 15 members of the Governing Council nominated by the President, Working President, Secretary General and Joint Secretary General. The tenure of the Standing Committee shall be the same as that of the Governing Council. This committee shall assist the Board of Trustees and the Governing Council to f9rmulate the policies and carry out the decisions of the said two bodies.

In accordance with the constitution of Vishva Hindu Parishad, its Board of Trustees shall consist of maximum 101 Trustees as under:

Out of these 22 are founder Trustees. They and those substituted in their place from time to time shall hold office for lifetime. Additional trustees from State/ Regional units and out of the office bearers/regional committees are nominated by the Board of Trustees from time to time. The Board of Trustees also nominated Trustees from abroad who represent the organisation of VHP or an association of Hindu affiliated to the Parishad. At present there are 28 trustees from abroad.

The Board of trustees appointed from time to time its Governing Council and the office bearers.

There is a provision in the Institution of VHP that there will be one chief patron and 75 patrons for time being. This number can be increased as and when necessary. They will be nominated by the Board of Trustees with prior approval of the individuals, from amongst the eminent and respected personalities from various walks of life. At present there are 18 Patrons.

VHP has its units practically in all States. These state units are separately registered with the Registering authority under the societies Registration Act as applicable in their states. The state units have their branches at Vibhag, District and Prakhand levels.

The State units are separately registered. Their Accounts are separately audited and they separately submit their Income Tax Returns. Each state has its own executive or managing committee. The appointments or nominations on these bodies are made by state units themselves in consultation with their workers as per their respective constitutions. However, each state is required to obtain the approval of the Governing Council at the centre for their state committees.

All state units are affiliated to the General Body. Every year the state is expected to send affiliation Grant to the Centre. The amount of such affiliation Grant is decided each year by mutual consultation.

The Governing Council out of its members, as well as members of the Board of Trustees can nominate any two persons as 'Paryavekshak' (Supervisor) for overseeing the work of the institution.

Similarly, respective zonal chairman, zonal organising Secretaries and state. Org. Secretaries, also have authority to supervise, guide and advise the working of the State/Regional bodies.

They all as representatives of the centre, shall have the right to attend the state executive committee meetings but they have no right to vote. They establish liaison between the centre and the states. In case they differ with any decision, taken by the state executive committees they can get the committees refer the matter to the Governing Council at the Centre for its final decision. .

The State org-Secretaries, though members of the state executive committees, are under the administrative control of the centre.

The Governing Council and the Board of Trustees at its meetings from time to time consider the various political, religious, social and Cultural problems affecting the Hindu society pass resolutions thereon and take suitable actions as necessary.

At present there are 18 Vibhags dealing with separate subjects, each Vibhag being looked after by a Joint Secretary.

As and when necessary, Hindu Conferences or Sammelans are organised in different states at different places as warranted by the situation in the country by the central VHP as well as by its state units. The central VHP had organised the following main programmes since its foundations.

VHP as an International Organisation For purpose of organising VHP work abroad, all the foreign countries, except Nepal, Sri Lanka and neighbouring countries, are divided in four Zones namely –

India together with Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and neighbouring Islands is one zone in itself.

The question of relationship of VHP in India (Bharat) vis-à-vis VHP units in foreign countries was examined in March 1984 by a sub-committee with Shri Hans Raj Gupta as Chairman and it recommended that the VHP central office New Delhi is the Head Office and its Board of Trustees is the Supreme Body having jurisdiction over the entire organisation of the world. Wherever there are VHP units abroad, these should either become branches or affiliated to the Central VHP, New Delhi. A fee of Affiliation or an amount as central fund should be decided in consultation with the foreign units.

This recommendation was accepted by the Board of Trustees at its meeting held in March 1984.

The Board of Trustees at its meeting held on 2.4.72 resolved that the affiliation of those institutions from foreign countries that have similar objects should be encouraged and VHP should give all assistance and help in their work.