RULES | AMI | Association of Microbiologists of India

Name

Office

Objectives

Membership
and
privileges

Membership
fees

Journal
Membership

Central
Council
and its
Functions

Elected
Officers and
Nominated
officers of
the Association,
their term,
duties,
and Rights

AMI
units

Eligibility
for Office
bearers
and Election
procedure

AMI General
Body and
General
body meetings

Extraordinary
General
Body
Meetings

Association
Funds and
Management

Accounting
Year and
Terms of
officers

Association
publications
and duties
of the
Editor-
in-chief

Association
records

Appellate
Authority

Amendment
to Rules

AMI Conferences
and
responsibilities
of the
Organizers

Institution and
Presentation
of AMI
Awards

General
Rules and
Procedure
for Selection
of Awardees

Specific
rules
for Awards

AMI
Travel
grants

Felicitation
of AMI
members on
receiving
national/
international
awards

Legal Assistance

Closure

1.NAME

The Association shall be called the Association of Microbiologists of India or AMI in short.

2. OFFICE

The office of the Association shall be located at the normal place of activity of the General Secretary until such time the Association has a permanent place. All communications regarding the association, membership and other matters should be directed to the General Secretary, AMI. Matters regarding finances should be directed to the National Treasurer of the Association

2.1 PERMANENT LOCATION: The permanent records, literary possessions, including journals, books and any other records of the association shall be with the General Secretary of the Association until a permanent location in India is selected by the Association. This permanent place will be at a suitable place where an AMI unit exists and will also be the place of the Executive Secretary of the Association, who shall have the responsibility to manage the permanent office. The permanent office will be at location where guarantee of long lease or the possibility of the Association having its own building, exists. The terms and conditions of this will be worked out by the Central Council of AMI.

3. OBJECTIVES

3.1 The objectives of the Association shall be to promote the study of Microbiology in India and to facilitate interaction between Microbiologists and other allied disciplines. To promote the activities of its members, the Association may publish on its own or have an outside arrangement to publish, one or more research journals or news letter. Or any other document under the authority of a competent Editorial Board.
3.2 When the right to publish the journal is given to an outside agency, a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be signed between the AMI represented by its President/General Secretary and the Editor-in-chief of the journal and the publisher as mentioned in the responsibilities of the Editor-in-chief herein.
3.3 In the interest of development of Microbiology in India, the AMI may collaborate with any Microbiological or Biotechnological society in any part of the world, in any manner deemed fit by the Association , subject to any restrictions by the government of India.
3.4 In furtherance of Microbiology in India, the Association may establish any other institution under its ambit, such as an Indian Academy of Microbiological Sciences or a fellowship programme etc, with separate rules and regulations, which will be appended to the AMI Rules and Regulations. These Institutions will be managed by separate office bearers elected by their respective council and will have their own programs. They may be financially supported by the AMI as deemed fit by the General body of AMI. Those who are selected as members of the Academy will be designated as FAMI or FAMSc as the case may be. The fellows earlier elected by AMI designated as FAMI will be renamed as FAMSc w.e.f. April 1, 2014.
3.5 The responsibility of setting up of such institutions within the frame work of Association of Microbiologists of India will be carried out by the person selected by the General Body of AMI. He shall work independently and seek the approval of the General body of AMI to set up the institution, whenever necessary.

4. Membership and Privileges

Membership of the association is open to anybody or everybody who has interest in Microbiology or allied disciplines who pursue studies, teaching, research or profession in Microbiology or allied areas. Members shall have the privileges as specified in Para 4.1.3.
Members may be enrolled at any time during the year but only those who renew their subscription or enroll before the 31st July, will be entitled to vote in the ensuing elections.
4.1 Types of Membership and Admission: There shall be three categories of members - Honorary members, Life members and Annual members of the Association of Microbiologists of India

4.1.1 Honorary members: Honorary members shall be elected by the General Body on the recommendation of the Central Council and not more than two in a year. Persons recommended should be outstanding Microbiologists from any part of the world. Honorary members shall be entitled for all privileges of the Association except holding any office of the Association.
4.1.2 Life and Annual members: Life members and Annual members may enroll either directly or through the AMI units. Application for membership in the format of the Association available on the website of AMI giving details of academic standing and should be recommended by at least one life memberFIAM/FAMS and submitted directly to the National Treasurer or to the local unit Treasurer along with the prescribed fees. If submitted to the local unit Treasurer, the local Treasurer shall examine the application and if found suitable, shall collect the fees, retain the portion as prescribed below and forward a consolidated list along with the balance subscription by DD to the National Treasurer for acceptance of membership.
4.1.3 Privileges: All members except honorary members shall have the right to vote and stand for election to the offices of the Association. All members are expected to employ his/her scientific and technological expertise to advance the corporate good of the Association. All members of good standing will be entitled for any award instituted by the AMI (subject to rules under Awards) and any concession offered at the conferences of the AMI and any free publications of the AMI.

4.2 Resignation, Termination and Readmission of AMI Members

4.2.1 Resignation: Any member is free to resign. Such members shall intimate to the General Secretary his desire in writing and the resignation shall become effective only at the end of the financial year. Acceptance of resignation by the General Secretary is subject to the member having cleared all dues to the association. No refund is allowed of paid membership to annual or life members. Members who resign shall cease to have any privileges of the Association including concessional registration during AMI conferences.
4.2.2 Termination: The Central Council may recommend to the General Body the removal of any person from the membership of the Association when it is of the opinion that such removal is in the interest of the association. If the recommendation is accepted by two third of those attending the General Body, the recommendation shall be deemed to have been accepted and may be given effect to by intimating the person concerned by the General Secretary. Similarly, life members can also be removed in the interest of the association by following the above procedure. However, a member removed from membership of the association shall not receive any refund of his subscription.
4.2.3 Readmission: Those annual members who do not renew their membership before 31st July every year shall cease to be members and will be readmitted only on payment of fresh admission fee along with the new membership fees. It will therefore be the duty of every member to ensure that his/her dues are paid in time.

5. Membership Fee

Persons can enroll as life members or annual members either directly or through the unit nearest to their place of working. The membership will be given only after scrutiny of application and its approval by Central Council (CC). Membership fee is likely to change from time to time to be decided by the General Body of the Association.

5.1 Honorary members: Those selected by the Central Council and approved by the General Body of AMI. Hon. Members are exempted from paying any fee to the AMI.
5.2 Life members: Those who pay a one-time membership fee and admission fee, as prescribed by the General Body of the association.
5.3 Annual members: Those who pay an admission fee at the time of admission and an annual fee as prescribed by the General Body of the Association from time to time. Continuing annual members shall pay only the annual membership fee either to the local unit Treasurer or to the National Treasurer before 31st July every year.
5.4 Those members who are not life members of AMI but are selected as founder FAMI'S (FIAMS), will not required to pay any subscription to the association if they so desire but shall continue to have the privileges that they earlier possessed by virtue of their holding AMI office positions.
5.5 Change over from Annual members to Life members: Annual members who desire to become Life members shall pay the full amount as under 5.2 above and will not get any consideration towards subscription paid earlier as annual members.
5.6 No part of the annual membership or life membership fees is refundable under any circumstances.
5.7 Fee retainment: When membership is through the local AMI unit, the local treasurer shall retain the admission fee in full of life members and annual members, in addition to the 50% of the annual fee of the annual members and shall remit the balance to the National Treasurer. The unit treasurer shall not retain any part of the life membership fee.
5.8 Where there is no AMI unit, members can enroll directly with the AMI through the National Treasurer.
5.9 Identity cards: The General Secretary, on the receipt of Membership list from the Treasurer's office, shall issue permanent ID cards to all Life members with complete address.

6. Journal Membership

6.1 Membership of the Journal is optional. The annual institutional/individual subscription for the journal will be mutually determined by the Association and the publisher.
6.2 The Journal membership rate may change from time to time with the approval of the General Body. When the journal is published by an outside agency, the publisher shall not affect any changes in the membership rates without consulting the Association through its General Secretary and the Editor in chief.
6.3 Those who wish to receive the journal shall pay the journal subscription directly to the journal office address available on the website. Journal subscribers will receive the journal directly from the Publisher.
6.4 All ex-Presidents of the Association are eligible to receive the journal free of charge on retirement from service, provided they are unable to subscribe and should inform the Editor-in-chief in writing annually.
6.5 Editorial members of the Journal and former Presidents, AMI will also be given a password by the Editor in Chief so that they can access the journal and the articles in full. Members who do not wish to receive a hard copy of the journal may inform either the Publisher or the Editor-in-chief of INJM.

7. The Central Council and its Functions

The Central Council of the Association, herein after called the CC, shall consists of the President, Chairman, IAMS, President Elect, the General Secretary, the Treasurer, the Joint Secretary, the Editor-in-Chief, six members elected by the general procedure of election and one representative from each AMI unit. All past Presidents and General Secretaries will also be ex-officio members of the Central Council without voting rights. Also, the Editor-in-chief and the Joint Secretary will not have voting rights as they are not elected members

7.1 Functions of the CC: The CC shall formulate all policy matters relating to the functioning of the association for approval by the General Body. It shall approve the admission of new members to the association and make modifications and amendments to these rules and regulations subject to approval by a majority of members at the General Body. It shall examine the agenda for the General Body as well as requests from members for items to be discussed by the General body, provided they are sent to the General Secretary at least 60 days before the General body meeting.

7.2 The CC shall execute all decisions made by the General Body of the AMI.

7.2.1 The CC shall have powers to nominate persons to represent the AMI at National and International Conferences as and when the necessity arises. Persons nominated shall be the Life members of the association and preferably, members of the Central Council. The Central Council shall decide the cost of representation, if any.
7.2.2 The CC shall have the right to decide on financial assistance requested by units subject to recommendation by the Treasurer.
7.2.3 The CC shall nominate the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal from among the Life Members of the Association (preferably from among those available at the permanent location of AMI, when the permanent location is established).
7.2.4 The CC meetings are private and the proceedings shall not be communicated to the press without the consent of the Council.
7.2.5 The CC may invite any other Scientific Society to participate in AMI conferences, if found desirable and such information should be brought to the notice of the General body.

7.3 CC Meetings: The CC may be convened as and when required by the General Secretary in consultation with the President with 15 days notice but shall convene at least once before the General Body meeting of the Association.

7.3.1 A minimum of 6 persons shall form the quorum for the Central Council meeting. If the quorum number is not met, the meeting can be adjourned and reconvened after one hour provided quorum is complete.
7.3.2 The meeting place will be decided jointly by the President and the Secretary and will be a suitable place for a sufficient number of members to attend. Due care will however be taken to avoid excess expenditure on Travelling allowance.

7.4 CC President: The CC meeting shall be presided over by the President or in his absence the President-Elect. In case neither is able to attend, the General Secretary may conduct the meeting with Past-President if present, if not any one senior member in the chair. Such meetings may be held provided there is a quorum of at least 6 members.
7.5 Filling of CC vacancies: Vacancies arising in the CC due to death, resignation or any other reasons shall be filled only by due election at the earliest. The vacancies of the Executive Secretary, Joint Secretary and the Editor-in-Chief can however be filled by fresh nomination by the Central Council but only for the remainder of the period of the term.
7.6 With the accounting year of AMI changing from April to March, the newly elected officers will take charge on the 1st of April.

8. Elected Officers and Nominated officers of the Association, their term, duties, and Rights.

Elected Officers nominated officers of the Association, their rights, duties Responsibilities: The Officers of the association shall consist of the President, the President Elect, the General Secretary, the Joint Secretary, the Treasurer and the Editor-in-Chief. All officers of the association are honorary officers either elected by the members or selected by appropriate authorities of the AMI.

8.1 Term, duties and Responsibilities of the Officers of AMI The various Officers of the AMI except the Joint Secretary and the Editor-in-Chief shall be elected by the members of the Association and shall have the following terms, rights duties and responsibilities. The CC shall nominate the Joint Secretary and the Editor-in-Chief.

8.1.1 No officer of the AMI will hold dual posts. The officers other than the President desire to contest for any other elected or nominated positions in AMI, they may do so only in the last year of their term.
8.1.2 Limits of powers of AMI officers including the Editor-in-Chief of INJM: No Officer of AMI including the Editor-in-Chief of INJM shall sign any MOU with any agency or delegate any function of the association objectives, without the permission of the Central council of the association.
8.1.3 With THE CHANGE IN THE ACCOUNTING YEAR FROM APRIL TO MARCH, the term of all officers of the AMI will also be from April to March. The officers will demit their offices on the 31st of March every year but the announcement of the elections will be made by the General Secretary through first annual circular by 31st May of each calendar year. All Officers will take change of their offices on the 1st of April every year.

8.2 The President: The term of the office of the President shall be ONE year (from April to March). He shall demit the office on the 31st of March.

8.2.1 He/she shall be the Constitutional Head of the Association and shall preside over all the meetings of the CC and the General Body.
8.2.2 He/she shall represent the association on all ceremonial occasions. He/she may delegate his/her powers to the president (elect) if he/she so desires.
8.2.3 He/she shall have the privilege of exercising the casting vote in case of equal divisions in the CC or the General Body.
8.2.4 He/she shall represent the Association at International meetings and Organizations.
8.2.5 At the end of the term, he/she will hand over the charge to the President elect at the General Body meeting.
8.2.6 On retirement from office, all Ex-Presidents of the association shall be entitled to reimbursement of their travel costs in connection with attending CC meetings, AMI conferences, etc as detailed in these rules and regulations.

8.3 President Elect: The term of office of the President elect shall be ONE year after the elections. He/she shall be a member of the CC and carry out all the functions of the President in his absence or as the President desires. He/she shall assume charge as the President on April 1st after completing his tenure as President-elect.
8.4 The General Secretary

8.4.1 The term of the office of the General Secretary shall be THREE years.
8.4.2 He/she shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Association.
8.4.3 He/she shall be responsible for the day to day activities of the Association and for proper maintenance of all the records of the Association. For this purpose he/she may be given secretarial assistance paid from the funds of the Association.
8.4.4 He/she shall maintain an up-to-date directory of the Association including the names of all the AMI Units, Life Members, Annual members and honorary members as per the list regularly received from Treasure's office. The Treasurer's office will ensure the list of members and units whose subscriptions are received is timely sent to GS office.
8.4.5 He/she shall send the first circular of the Conferences after the date and place is finalized at the General Body meeting.
8.4.6 The General Secretary shall prepare the agenda for the meetings of the Central Council and the General Body of the Association as per regulations prescribed herein.
8.4.7 He/she shall scrutinize and submit to the approval of the CC the applications for memberships of AMI, record the proceedings of the CC and the General Body, circulate the minutes of the meetings within ONE month of the CC meetings to all the members of the CC and the General Body.
8.4.8 He/she shall prepare and present a detailed report of activities of the AMI at the General Body meetings, including all its activities, future plans, the Treasurer's and Editor-in-Chief's reports and any changes needed in the Rules and regulations of AMI
8.4.9He/she shall act as the returning officer during the election of the office bearers as prescribed in the rules.
8.4.10 He/she shall also maintain close relationship with the various units of the Association.
8.4.11 He/she shall recommend the names of the persons to be nominated as the Joint Secretary from the place of his location to the Central Council.
8.4.12 He/she shall maintain an up to date record of all awards given out by the Association in separate files with details of recipients. He/she may delegate one or more powers and duties to the Joint Secretary if he/she so desires.
8.4.13 He/she shall on the the receipt of membership list from the Treasurer, issue permanent ID cards to all life members.
8.4.14 He/she may delegate some of his responsibilities to the Executive secretary of the association, when appointed, and will also decide the activities of the Executive secretary.
8.4.15 The General Secretary will prepare a directory of Indian Eminent Microbiologists with their brief bio-data for use by other academic, research and industrial institutions. He shall ensure that this is updated at least once in two years. He shall also ensure that this information is uploaded on the AMI website.
8.4.16 He/she shall revise the AMI Rules and Regulations once in 10 years, incorporating all the amendments and new rules made at the various General body meetings from time to time. The Treasurer shall meet the expenditure of this exercise from the AMI funds. One hard copy of the rules and Regulations will be made available to every AMI unit and any member that desires to possess copy shall be provided the same by the General Secretary. He/she will ensure that the Rules and Regulations of the AMI are also uploaded on the website.
8.4.17 For any emergent work to be got done outside the office of the GS by outsourcing or otherwise, the General secretary may incur an expenditure and report the same to the following C.C meeting.

8.5 The Joint Secretary: He/she shall be a person nominated by the CC on the recommendation of the General Secretary and shall be from the same place as that of the General Secretary.

8.5.1 The term of office of the Joint Secretary shall be concurrent with that of the General Secretary. In the event of the General Secretary moving away from the place on transfer or otherwise, the tenure of the Joint Secretary shall cease.
8.5.2 When a vacancy of the Joint Secretary occurs, the CC shall obtain a fresh recommendation from the General Secretary and nominate another person for the remaining period.
8.5.3 He/she shall be a member of the Central Council and shall carry out all functions of the General Secretary in the absence of the latter and all other functions delegated to him/her by the General Secretary.

8.6 Executive Secretary of AMI: The post of Executive Secretary shall be created when the Association shall have a permanent location to carry out all the administrative affairs of the Association.

8.6.1 He/She will be deemed as an officer of the Association, selected by the Central Council from among the members of the Association at the permanent location
8.6.2 He/She will be paid remuneration as found appropriate by the Central Council.
8.6.3 His/Her term of office shall be at least one year and extendable subject to satisfactory performance.
8.6.4 He/she shall assist the AMI in securing revenue through advertisements in the Journal or from any other agencies, with the consent of the Central council.

8.7 The Treasurer He/she shall be the chief financial officer of the Association and shall receive all the funds on behalf of the Association and shall maintain proper accounts only in nationalized banks.

8.7.1 The term of the Treasurer will be THREE years
8.7.2 He/she shall maintain records of all members and funds of the Association in appropriate forms and make them available to the CC as and when required. He/she shall maintain separate files of all the fixed deposits herein after called "AMI funds", their utilization etc.
8.7.3 He/she shall receive the membership nominations along with the prescribed fees either directly or from the units and shall forward the applications to the General Secretary for acceptance by the CC after retaining the fees. He/She will also maintain the record of members update and send to Joint Secretary from time to time for issuing Identity cards.
8.7.4 He/she shall operate all accounts of the Association, maintain the accounts in proper form and submit them for annual auditing by a registered chartered accountant, approved by the CC and place the same before the CC and the General Body at the appropriate time.
8.7.5 The Treasurer shall advance funds as decided by the CC to the President, the General Secretary and the Editor-in-Chief to enable them to carry out their normal functions as prescribed under these rules and regulations. However, all accounts of expenditure by these officers must be submitted to the Treasurer who shall then submit the accounts annually to the auditor.
8.7.6 He/she shall also loan funds to the units organizing the AMI conferences and coordinate the financial activities of all AMI units.
8.7.7 The Treasurer shall make available to the units 50% of the Annual membership as well as the admission fees as mentioned under rule 5.6 for normal functioning of the units, provided units have not already deducted the same.
8.7.8 The Treasurer shall present a consolidated budget and an audited statement of accounts to the General Body indicating the budgeted amount for the previous year, the actual expenditure and a statement of income and expenditure for the following year.
8.7.9 He/she shall also provide a complete list of all liabilities and assets to the CC and the General Body. The Treasurer in consultation with the General Secretary, is allowed to sanction up to 20,000/- (Twenty thousand only), for holding activities related to the promotion of Microbiology. All such sanctions must however be brought to the attention of the CC as and when the CC meets.
8.7.10 The Treasurer shall reimburse travel allowances, Air/Rail/Bus fare as decided by the CC from time to time, to all council office bearers and members including ex-Presidents of the Association and other CC members to facilitate them to attend the AMI council meetings/conferences, provided they or their units do not have funds for this purpose.
8.7.11 The Treasurer will select an auditor to audit the accounts of AMI and the fees to be paid for the purpose will be decided in consultation with the General Secretary and finally its approval by CC as stated under rule 8.7.4.
8.7.12 The Treasurer shall ensure that all officers of AMI and the Editor-in-Chief of INJM and also all AMI units maintain an Assets Register. These registers will be maintained regularly by all those concerned.
8.7.13 The Treasurer shall not make any Payment in cash in excess of 10,000/-(One Thousand only) but only by cheques.
8.7.14 The Treasurer shall submit the list of members enrolled by the last week of March every year to the General Secretary, so that their names can be included in the list of voters for ensuing elections. An updated list of Life Members must be sent to GS office on quarterly basis.
8.7.15 All officers of the AMI who operate independent accounts shall maintain books of accounts and update them regularly as desired by the Tax authorities and this will be ensured by the Treasurer of the Association.
8.7.16 All TA payments to officers of AMI will be made by the Treasurer or his representative at the meeting location. The TA payment will be by cheque if it is more than 1000/- (One thousand only) or by direct transfer to the bank account of the concerned.

9. AMI Units

A unit of AMI can be formed at any place in India with the approval of the CC and subsequently the General Body of AMI, provided it has a minimum of 20 members.

9.1 All members will have the freedom to be associated with a unit closest to their place of working /residence.
9.2 After the unit is recognized, it shall be included in the directory of the Association maintained by the General Secretary.
9.3 Members forming the AMI unit shall convene and elect office bearers of the unit as mentioned in these regulations.
9.4 The election of office bearers should be held before March, 31st every year and the names of the office bearers should be communicated to the AMI General Secretary.
9.5 The unit is also free to form their own rules for management within the framework of the general rules of the AMI for proper functioning of the unit.
9.6 Management of AMI Units Every AMI unit shall be managed by an executive committee, responsible to the general body of the unit and AMI. The executive committee shall consist of the President, the Secretary cum Treasurer and at least 2 members. The term of office of all the office bearers shall be ONE year. Election of these office bearers of the units shall be held by consensus or by ballot, if necessary. The unit Secretary cum Treasurer shall act as the returning officer for this purpose.
9.7 Functioning of the AMI Units The AMI units shall conduct academic activities to promote the objectives of the Association by organizing seminars, meetings, conferences etc. with funds available at their disposal. The units shall collect membership fee before March 31st every year and process further as mentioned under Rules 5.7. Proper accounts shall be maintained in a nationalized bank and reported to the local unit as well as to the National Treasurer by the 31st of March every year. The Secretaries of the units shall send a report to the General Secretary every year, which in turn shall consolidate the same and submit to the CC and the General Body of the association at their meetings.
9.8 Financial Assistance to AMI Units To encourage AMI activities at local level, AMI will provide a grant 20,000/- (Twenty thousand only) once in 2 years. This amount may change with time and the decision shall be made by the General body at the appropriate time subject to availability of funds. The unit must submit an application with brief details at least one month before the planned activity. The General Secretary shall review the application and if found worth, shall authorize the Treasurer for payment, with intimation to the unit concerned. The Treasurer shall send the amount sanctioned within 15 days after the Unit secretary sends a brief report of the activity along with a utilization certificate.
The Unit shall duly acknowledge the support of the AMI.
9.10 Rewarding of AMI units: AMI units which are active will be awarded suitably by the AMI with a cash award and certificate to be decided by the Central Council of AMI. The details of the procedure for the award will be decided by the Central council which shall ensure that a unit that which gets an award shall not be eligible again for at least 3 years. The amount of cash award given will vary from time to time depending on the funds available with AMI for this purpose.

9.10.1 Assessment of AMI units for reward: Eligibility Criteria & Guidelines for Best Chapter Award
The following rules have come into effect from 2010 to evaluate AMI units for their activities
Criteria for eligibility:

a. The Unit must be in existence for a continuous period of 5 years
b. The unit must have a minimum of 50 life members and 50 annual members.

9.10.1.1 The Unit desirous of applying for the award should submit all the required following information at least 2 months before the annual general body of the association to the General Secretary, AMI. The application should contain the following information:

a. Place and full address of the Chapter/Unit
b. Number of Life members/Annual members
c. Whether the unit has been regular in sending subscriptions on time (with proof)
d. Scientific activities of the unit in the past five years (should provide documentary proof)
e. Number of institutions around the unit with Microbiology departments
f. Microbiology expertise with the unit
g. List of office bearers of the unit in the past 5 years
h Punctuality in sending report
The unit will be graded using the guidelines given herein below.
9.10.1.2 Guidelines for grading:
Max marks

1. Membership Drive:
10

Life Members-Minimum 5 Nos. 1 mark for each LM
Annual Members-Minimum 20 Nos. ½ mark for each AMI

2. Conducting Seminars /Colloquia/Workshops:
5

Regional-level (2); National (3)

3. Conducting competition for various groups of members:
5

Student level (5);
JRF/SRF/Project Asst. (5)

4. Conducting Invited talks: inviting Foreign or Indian Speakers
5
5. Representation at AMI Annual Conferences:
5

As Invited Speaker
(1 mark for each)
Poster
Presentation
(0.5 for each)

6. Publication from members in Indian Journal of Microbiology
5

(1 mark for each publication)

7. Contribution in the form of News Letters/Submission of
5

Chapter activities (Secretary Report)

8. Office bearers/CEC Members of AMI from Chapter
5
Whether the chapter/Unit conducted any annual 5

conferences of AMI
TOTAL
50

9.10.1.3 The selection committee will consist of the President, President elect, General Secretary and the Treasurer and will be chaired by the President or the President elect and the selected unit will be informed of the result at least one month before the annual conference.
9.10.1.4 Selected unit will receive an award in the form of a certificate/citation mentioning all the details of the unit/chapter and a Cash prize of 5000/- 3,000/-, 2,000/- to the Ist, IInd and IIIrd Prize holders. The award will be given at the time of the annual General Body meeting and will have to be received by an officer of the unit. No TA/DA will be provided to Unit office bearers to attend GB meeting.
9.10.1.5 Preference to hold an AMI conference will be given to a unit which has been rewarded as the best Unit. 9.10.2 These rules and guidelines for grading may change and the central council is empowered to affect any changes required with information to the `General body´.
9.11 De-recognition of AMI units Any unit that does not renew its subscription continuously for two years should be warned of de recognition by the General Secretary. If it does not respond within a year thereafter, the unit should be de-recognized and deleted from the list of AMI units maintained by the General Secretary and Treasurer.

10. Eligibility for Office Bearers and Election Procedure

10. Eligibility: A person wishing to be considered for the post of President Elect, General Secretary, Treasurer or CC member should be a Life Member of at least 10 years standing or as annual member for at least 15 years continuous standing.

10.1.1 A Life member of AMI can contest for any given post of AMI only twice, failing which, he/she will not be considered in future elections for the post for which he/she had contested twice.
10.1.2 Life Members who get elected as President-Elect and eventually President of AMI cannot contest again for any other elected post of AMI. There is no limit for re-contesting for the posts of General Secretary or Treasurer by the existing officers. However, a member elected twice as a member of the central council is barred from contesting a third time, so that a chance can be given to others to represent the unit. 10.1.3 As per decision of GB meeting held on 19.11.2013 at M.D. University Rohtak it is mentioned here that in no case more than one president elect should be declared elected even upon tie up. In such cases mutual consent or re-election may be conducted.

10.2 Election procedure: The General Secretary shall be the Returning Officer and shall conduct all elections when due. At least 2 months before the election is due, the General Secretary shall notify to each member of good standing, along with the nomination papers for offices to be filled by election that year and invite nominations at least within 21 days of posting the letter.

Nominations, scrutiny & withdrawal: Nominations duly proposed by one Ex President/FAMI/FIAMS and seconded by two other Life members with at least 10 years standing, along with the consent of the candidate, shall be sent to the General Secretary in the specified nomination form on or before the last date declared by the General Secretary to receive nominations. It is to be mentioned that it is mandatory for the contesting candidate for President Elect should have contributed for AMI in any capacity (CC Member, GS, Treasurer, Editor-in-chief, Joint Secretary or AMI Unit President/Secretary/Treasurer. The General Secretary shall scrutinize the nominations with regard to eligibility with due weightage to their contribution to AMI and prepare a list of nominees of all eligible candidates. A copy of the same shall be sent to all the eligible contestants, with a request to inform if any one wishes to withdraw from the contest. Those who wish to withdraw should inform the General Secretary within 15 days of his posting the request.
10.2.2 Balloting, counting and result declaration: In case no member withdraws, the General Secretary will start the online process/ E-balloting process of conducting election as approved by the C.C. The General Secretary shall ensure that proper secrecy is maintained so as not to reveal the identity of the voter. Once the voting time is over, the General Secretary shall fix a date for counting the votes and inform the date to all contestants. A committee of 3 persons approved by C.C. will supervise the on line counting of votes. The committee will include General Secretary as the Returning Officer and two other life members of the association as the members. The General Secretary shall report the results of the election first to the CC and then to the General Body at the appropriate time, after which the winners of the election will be officially informed. The details of E-voting will be provided on AMI website.
10.2.3 Canvassing in any form by any incumbent officers in favour of any candidate is forbidden.
10.2.4 Adjudicating authority: Any dispute arising out of the conduct of the election shall be referred only to the Central Council, whose decision shall be final. The election procedure or any matter related to the election to any position of AMI shall not be subject to any judicial review.

10.3 By-Election: If any vacancy occurs in the CC (other than that of Editor-in-Chief or Jt. Secretary), which may be for more than two years, the General Secretary may arrange to hold a fresh election for that post only. If that is not possible, the CC may nominate a person to fill the vacancy subject to approval of the General Body or the President may co-opt any member of the association locally available for advice only, as and when required, who may be paid local TA for attending the meeting.
10.4 Removal of an Office bearer: No office bearer of the association can be removed without giving a chance to explain and such removal can be done only by the General Body of the Association.

11. AMI General Body and General Body Meetings

The General Body of the Association, herein after called the GB, shall include all members and will be the final authority to initiate, accept, reject or modify any proposal concerning the Association, its Rules and Regulations.

11.1.1 The General Body shall take major policy decisions, which are first scrutinized by the CC. Members who wish to bring forth items for discussion at the General Body, shall send the proposals in writing to the General Secretary at least 60 days before the GB meeting. The General Secretary shall examine the proposal, place it before the CC and thereafter bring it as an item for discussion to the GB.

11.1.2 Any other important matter can however be discussed in the General Body, if permitted by the presiding officer.
11.1.3 All the GB meetings shall be presided over by the President or in his absence by the President elect. In the absence of either, it may be presided over either by the immediate past president or any other past president of the AMI or any other senior AMI member present at the meeting.
11.1.4 The GB meetings of the Association are private and the proceedings cannot be Communicated or publicized without the permission of the General Secretary.

The Association shall hold at least one GB meeting coinciding with the AMI conference, at which scientific papers shall be presented and also the business of the association is transacted. Once the date of the conference is decided, the General Secretary shall inform all Life members directly and Annual members through their unit Secretaries about the meeting date and place, at least two months before the holding the GB meeting. He shall also request members to submit any proposal, which needs to be examined by the CC and GB of AMI. At the GB meeting, the General Secretary will summarize the report of the Editor-in-Chief and Treasurer. These officers shall be present at the General Body meetings and provide any assistance that the General Secretary needs in terms of clarification etc. The Editor-in-Chief and the Treasurer shall make available their detailed reports with budget and future plans to the General Secretary to be appended to the consolidated Annual report of the General Secretary.

11.3 Quorum for the GB: Fifty members of the AMI shall form the quorum for holding of the GB meeting. In case there is no quorum, the meeting may be adjourned for one hour. The rule of quorum shall not be applicable to the reconvened meeting.

12. Extra Ordinary General Body meetings

The President or the CC can convene an extra ordinary GB meetings on request in writing to the General Secretary by at least 100 (one hundred) members of the association. Such a request shall state specifically the purpose for which the meeting is to convene. The General Secretary, on receiving the request shall get the approval of the CC or the President and inform all the members of the AMI the date, time and place of such extraordinary meeting with at least 15 days notice.

13. Association Funds and Management

The authority to receive and manage funds on behalf of the Association shall rest solely with the Treasurer of the Association.

13.1 The Treasurer of AMI shall deposit all funds of AMI, in Scheduled Nationalized Banks in the name of the Association after obtaining the authorization from the President and the General Secretary.
13.2 All bank accounts including SB accounts and Fixed Deposits (FDs) will be operated jointly by the Treasurer and the General Secretary, provided they are from one place. But in case these officers are from different places, both may be allowed by the CC to operate individual SB accounts. However, all fixed deposits of AMI will be operated jointly by the Treasurer and the General Secretary.
13.3 Fund investment: The Treasurer shall make investments of its funds as deemed best in recognized institutions only, after approval by the CC.
13.3.1 All Life membership amounts will be placed in fixed deposit. The interest from this shall be used for the activities of the Association. The capital amount of Life membership fee shall not be used for any purpose without approval by the GB of the Association.
13.3.2 Funds meant for specific awards accepted by the GB of AMI shall be placed in separate FDs and the Treasurer shall maintain separate accounts for the utilization of the interest from such deposits. The original investment shall not be used for any purpose.
13.3.3 On the recommendation of the General body, the Treasurer shall increase the size of the initial deposits by placing more funds therein or reinvestment of unused interest, The Treasurer shall ensure proper growth of the capital and the interest by proper reinvestment management.
13.3.4 All office bearers of AMI and the Editor-in-Chief, who operate independent accounts, should submit their accounts to the Treasurer once in six months. The treasurer will get the accounts duly audited and report to the General body.
13.3.5 Expenditure on Purchase by various AMI officers-Procedures. The General Secretary, Editor-In-Chief and Treasurer are authorized to spend an amount up to 5000/- as one time purchase (subject to change) and any purchase beyond that should be dealt by a committee comprising as follows: (I) Editorial Office: Editor-in-Chief, General Secretary or his nominee, President or his nominee. (ii) General Secretary's Office: General Secretary, President, or his nominee, Joint Secretary (iii) Treasurer's office: Treasurer, President or his nominee and one member approved by C. C. from Treasurer's place. Any payment of 5000/- (five thousand only) and above (subject to future changes) should be paid by cheque only.
13.3.6 Secretarial assistance to Officers of AMI: The General secretary and the Treasurer will have secretarial/office assistance to the extent of 10000/- p.m (ten thousand only) and the Editor-in-Chief will have assistance of 10,000/- pm (ten thousands only), subject to availability of funds. This amount is subject to change. Details of expenditure will be submitted by all concerned to the Treasurer at least 2 months before the AMI conference and will be duly audited and submitted to the General body.
13.3.7 Funds for Young Scientists awards or travel grants to students shall be from interest accruing from FDs preferably kept for this purpose. However, until such time the FDs are established (or a corpus developed using the conference savings etc) for this purpose, this expenditure may be made out of the surplus funds available with the Treasurer subject to approval of the CC. The Treasurer shall however, make efforts to establish separate fixed deposits for these purposes.
13.3.8 Contributions received from organizing units of AMI conferences w.e.f year 2010 onwards will be placed in F.D. under a separate budget head as "AMI TRAVEL CORPUS". This money will be used for granting travel assistance to AMI awardees (only in the year of award) and other members of AMI or young researchers depending on the merit of the case(s).
13.3.9 Funds for normal functioning of the association and the Journal shall be drawn from the annual membership fees, the Journal subscription from members and institutions, advertisements in the Journal, royalty from publishers of INJM and the interest accruing on the Life membership fixed deposits. The Treasurer shall be free to place any surplus funds from any source, in new FDs in the name of AMI and this shall be brought to the notice of the CC at the earliest. Any surplus amount available may be utilized for the welfare of the Association and for providing assistance to the young microbiologists as deemed fit by the CC on recommendation by the Treasurer and this will be brought to the attention of the General body.
13.3.10 All Office bearers or members of C.C. AMI will be paid Travel allowance at the rate of 10 (Ten only) per Kilometer or as per Govt. rates to a maximum of 500 km (both ways) as travel assistance by road for attending central council meeting or AMl's annual conference. This rate may change from time to time but the distance to which the allowance will be paid shall not exceed 500 km (Both ways). If there is more than one member from the same place or nearby places, they should prefer to travel in the same vehicle. For attending AMI meetings during the AMI conference, Economy Class Air ticket (Cheapest available) should be availed with advance information to the G.S. If any CC member is coming by his own car, he will be given TA at the same rate as above subject to maximum 500 KM (both ways)
13.3.11 All ex-presidents of AMI who desire to attend the AMI conference and the CC meetings will be paid an economy (cheapest available) air fare, subject to availability of funds, provided they inform the General Secretary at least 2 months in advance. Travel assistance will be provided to a maximum of 6 Past-Presidents at a time on a first come first serve basis and subject to fund availability.

14. Accounting Year

The accounting year of the Association shall be APRIL TO MARCH every year TO SUIT TAX CALCULATION PURPOSES. All officers including the Editor-in-chief shall strictly follow this and submit their accounts to the Treasurer in time to enable him to pay tax as per rules. The responsibility of following this date will be of the officers concerned.

15. Association Journal

The Association shall publish or authorize a private publisher to publish a quarterly the Indian Journal of Microbiology (INJM) or any other publication. The subscription rate for the publications shall be fixed by the GB on the recommendation of the CC based on the proposal from Editor-in-Chief. This shall however vary from time to time. Membership to the journal is optional.
15.1 The term of office of the Editor-in-chief and the Editorial board shall be four years and the term of the Editor in chief, may be extended by the Central council for another four years, with information to the General body.
The Editor-in-Chief shall not contest for any elected post of AMI except in his final year of his/her term. If he/she gets elected, he/she shall hold the post of Editor in Chief only until he/she takes over the charge of the post to which he/she is elected.

15.2 Duties of Editor in Chief
15.2.1 The Journal shall be managed by an Editor-in-Chief who shall be nominated by the CC. He/she shall be responsible for editing, printing, publishing and distributing the Journal.
15.2.2 He/she shall also maintain its records and separate accounts for funds received from Journal subscription, Libraries / agencies etc and from the Treasurer for this purpose or get the concerned record from the Publishers.
15.2.3 The Editor-in-Chief shall constitute an Editorial Board consisting of members and non-members from India and Overseas and intimate the same for approval of the CC, to assist him / her in running the Journal.
15.2.4 The Editorial Board shall meet as and when required but at least once before the GB of the Association and frame all policy matters regarding the Journal including its frequency of publication or subscription rates etc. for examination and consideration by the CC and the GB.
15.2.5 The term of office of the Editorial Board shall be FOUR years and the Editor-in-Chief shall have the freedom to nominate members, if he / she so desires.
15.2.6 To assist the Editor-in-Chief, he/she may nominate a person as the Executive Editor and approved by the CC, to assist him mainly in the work of publication of the Journal before it is submitted to the publisher /printer. He /She shall also help the Editor-in-Chief in obtaining funds through advertisements and subscriptions to the journal in case it is published by AMI.
15.2.7 The Executive Editor shall assist the Editor-in-Chief in the preparation of the journal before handing over to the publisher.
15.2.8 The Editor-in-Chief may operate a separate account for accepting the subscriptions; advertisement charges, royalty from the publisher on behalf of the Association etc but shall submit all accounts to the Treasurer before the end of the accounting year. He shall transfer the royalty and other amounts received from the publisher to the Treasurer, who only shall provide funds as and when required for running the journal.
15.2.9 The life members of INJM till the life membership of AMI was delinked from INJM, the members if desire so, will be provided hard copy or e-excess or either by editor's office or publisher as the case may be.

15.3 Website for AMI: The General Secretary shall be responsible for developing and Maintaining website for AMI either himself or through a vendor.

15.3.1 The Domain of AMI web site shall be in the name and custody of AMI and shall be updated as and when required by the General Secretary, AMI.
15.3.2 He/She or vendor shall ensure that all information about AMI and its activities including the conference details, the Journal, News letter, academy etc. are regularly loaded on this website
15.3.3 Any payment to be made to create and maintain the website shall be done with approval of the General Secretary and the expenditure for the maintenance of the website will be borne by the AMI.
15.3.4 All organizers of the AMI conferences shall provide the relevant information about the AMI conferences to the General Secretary who shall uploaded on the website at least 2 months before the conference.

15.4. Any matter related to the functioning of the journal and the publisher of the journal, the Editor-in-chief is empowered to take necessary action in consultation with the General Secretary and the Treasurer. However the Editor-in-chief or any other officer is barred from taking any policy decision on behalf of the AMI and its activities. Only the General body of AMI shall have the right to make or change policies on recommendation of the C.C., AMI.

16. Association Records

The officers concerned particularly the General Secretary and the Treasurer shall maintain all routine correspondence and records of the Association for at least 10 years. For this purpose, they shall be allowed to have computerized facilities. Records of permanent or historical value, exchange material and important documents and correspondence, shall be preserved both on paper and CD's by the officers of the Association until a permanent location is established. All records held by the various officers and equipment purchased out of the Association funds, shall be transferred to the successor, as and when an officer demits his/her office.

17. Appellate Authority

. Any dispute arising in relation to the interpretation of these Rules and Regulations or with regard to any matter, for which no provision is made herein, the decision of the CC shall be final. The right to modify or reverse the decision of the CC shall rest only with the General body. All officers of the Association shall adhere to these rules and regulations strictly and any deviation shall be considered as a violation. Any violation of these rules and regulations by any official, will however, be considered on appeal by the violating individual, only by the General body of the association.

18. Amendments of Rules

These rules of the Association can be altered only by the General Body. No alteration shall be made unless two thirds of those voting at the GB meetings are in its favor.

Any changes in these rules, suggested by a member shall first be scrutinized by the CC. If found acceptable, the General Secretary shall put these the proposals on the AMI website for 20-30 days for comments/observations and then it will be communicated to CC.

18.1.1 The General Secretary shall then consolidate all comments received and place the same for consideration by the CC and then at the next GB meeting. Any change to these rules and regulations shall be made only by a Majority of 2/3 of members present at the General Body. The decisions of the GB shall be final and binding and not be subject to any judicial review. Any member who does not obey the decisions of GB will be debarred from AMI Membership as per AMI Rules.
18.1.2 The General Secretary shall then inform all the members about the changes approved either directly or through the units and shall be incorporated into these Rules and Regulations at appropriate places.

19. AMI Conferences

19.1. All AMI units are entitled to host the conferences of the AMI, which are held annually. Units rewarded by AMI for best performance, will get preference.
19.2 Any unit desiring of hosting the conference shall bring a written commitment to the C.C. and C.C.'s recommendation will be placed before G.B. of the Association for the final decision. The GB shall have the final say in deciding that which unit shall organize the next conference.
19.3 The organizers shall follow all norms as desired by the Central council in organizing the conference. The CC will formulate appropriate guidelines for the organizers.
19.4 The dates and program of the conference shall be decided by mutual consent between the CC and the organizers.
19.5 Organizers of the annual conferences of AMI will send circulars of the conference to all members of AMI after getting the list from the General Secretary of AMI. They shall give details of the conference to the General Secretary who shall then upload the circular containing all the information on the AMI website.
19.6. During the conference, in addition to symposia, keynote lectures, and poster presentations, the GB of the Association shall also meet to carry on its organizational or academic business activities. The President of the AMI, who shall deliver his presidential address at the conference, will chair the conference.
19.7 Abstracts for AMI conferences can be sent to the organizers electronically and followed by a hard copy by post.
19.8 In case those who register in advance are unable to attend the meeting due to unforeseen circumstances, the organizers may refund their registration fees after deducting the bank charges etc.
19.9 The Central council may approach foreign Microbiological societies for participation in annual conferences of AMI by way of putting up a stall, giving poster awards and to support one or two of its representatives to attend the annual conferences of AMI. If any activity the foreign Society other than usual participation wishes to do, needs to define and should have a MoU with AMI. The members of AMI should get benefit of association and not the individual.
19.10 The responsibility of holding the conference shall be of the unit, who may be initially supported financially by the association by extending a returnable loan of 50,000/- (Fifty Thousand only) or even more with proper justification. This amount may change from time to time and the decision in this regard will be made accordingly.
19.11 While requesting for loan for organizing the conference, the organizing secretary must give an assurance that the loan amount will be refunded within 3 months after the conference is over. The finances given by the Association to the unit shall be deemed to be a loan
19.12 The loan given must be returned along with audited statement of accounts and utilization certificate within three months after the conference was over, along with the accounts of the unit audited by a recognized auditor. Failing which, the General Secretary shall inform the Vice-chancellor/ Registrar or Finance Officer/Director of the institution which supported the conference, as the case may be.
19.13. The conference organizers/AMI unit will be authorized by the Association to collect funds from the public in addition to the Registration fee from participants. The organizing committee in consultation with the CC of AMI will decide the registration fee. The local organizers should acknowledge the financial help or otherwise received from any supporter of the conference.
19.14 The organizers of the annual conference shall contribute a minimum of 50, 000/- to the AMI, in addition to the return of the loan received from the AMI in connection with the organization of the conference. Balance of savings that remain with the organizers will be transferred 50% to Central AMI and 50% to local AMI unit.
19.15 Submission of accounts to the Donor Agencies after the conference shall be the responsibility of the Organizing unit and this shall be done at the earliest so that the next unit authorized by the GB to hold the conference, is able to obtain assistance from various funding agencies.

20. Institution and Presentation of Various AMI Awards

20.1 AMI awards are open to all but the applicant should be a life member of the association at the time of application.
20.1 The association on approval by the GB of AMI shall accept institution of awards to be given preferably to the Members of the Association.
20.2 The AMI will accept from private agencies, offers to institute awards for best poster or any other award in their names, provided they place an amount with the AMI in F.D., sufficient enough to generate adequate amount of interest to be paid as annual/biennial/triennial award(s).
20.3 The awards shall be called AMI-X Award, if the award is instituted by any donor (X). Otherwise they shall be called as AMI Awards.
20.4 Each Award shall be instituted with a capital fund placed in a separate FD in a Nationalized Bank by the Treasurer and shall be named as AMI-X-fund (example, AMI - Vyas Memorial Fund). The Treasurer shall maintain a separate file for the operation of each fund. The interest accrued in each deposit shall only be used for the distribution of the award and the capital shall not be disturbed under any circumstances.
20.5 If the award is not given for any reason, the interest meant for the award shall be put back with the capital in the FD. In order to make the awards grow in size with time, except the Young Scientist Awards, the awards will be either, biennial, triennial or quadrennial as decided by the GB.
20.6 The size of the award may be changed once depending on the growth of the capital in each fund. The association, on recommendation of the GB may however increase the size of the awards if the Capital Fund is enhanced by any funds collected specifically for that purpose.
20.7 No cash award instituted by the AMI such as Life Time achievement award, young scientists awards etc shall be increased in size normally before 5 years. Such increase in size must be approved by the General body before it is presented.
20.8 No officer of the AMI will receive any award from a private party at the conference, unless it is approved by the General body of AMI and the purpose for which the award is given to the individual is clearly specified. The Officers or members are however not barred from receiving any award from anyone outside the AMI conferences, for which no approval of the AMI GB is required.
20.9 For any rules not made herein with regard to the Awards, the decision of the Central Council and the General Body shall be final and not be subject to any judicial review.

21. General Rules & Procedure for Selection of Awardees

21.1 AMI awards are open to all but preferably to Members of AMI. Those who are not members of AMI shall enroll themselves as life members of AMI before applying for the awards.
21.2 All members of the association including the CC members and officers of AMI, (Past and Present) are eligible for being nominated for all AMI awards. However the concerned members shall not participate in the selection of that award, for which they have applied nor should they in any way influence the process of selection. Those found to influence, shall be debarred from applying in future by GB on a recommendation of the CC.
21.3 All awards will be in cash unless otherwise specified. The award size will be decided by the General body of AMI on recommendation from the CC, depending on the capital in each award fund The award money will be doubled in one go instead of in a phased manner, subject to the availability of capital in each account. . but generally not before 5 years.
21.4 The General Secretary shall inform all members of the Association regarding the availability of the Awards during the year and the size of the awards, and call for nominations in the first circular of the annual AMI conference with appropriate deadlines for submission. He shall also send this information to Current Science, IJM and place it on the website of AMI.
21.5 There is no limit for the number of times a member can apply for AMI awards.
21.6 The nomination shall be proposed by two members, one of whom should be a life member/FAMI/FAMS and should include a brief bio-data and achievements of the nominee in triplicate .In case no LM/FAMI/FAMS is available in the area, the Head of the department of Microbiology or Head of the institution can nominate.
7 The minimum number of nominations for any award preferably should be 3 (Three) or as decided by the rules framed for each award from time to time. If the application is not considered because of less number of applications, the applicants shall be informed accordingly by the General Secretary. Those who had applied may be asked to apply next time
21.8 When the applications are not scrutinized because of lack in number, the award will be deemed to have not been given and the award money shall be put back with the capital of that award.
21.9 The General Secretary shall get the Nominations scrutinized, by a committee of three members selected by him and the President. In case the award is instituted by an outside agency, a representative of the agency may be one of the three members for scrutinizing the applications.
21.10 The recommendations by a majority of the members of the scrutinizing committee shall be accepted by the General Secretary and communicated to the Council for acceptance in CC's meeting. The Central Council shall not change or cancel the recommendations received from the General Secretary but may put on `hold´ for examination, if there is any objection raised by any member of AMI. The objection will be then examined by the General Secretary and will be reported back for CC's approval.
21.11 The General Secretary shall initiate the selection procedure well in time so that the Council may ratify and the candidates are informed about the award at least one-month before the General Body meeting. If for any unforeseen reasons the council is unable to meet to inform the awardees, the General Secretary shall obtain the approval of the President and inform the candidates.
21.12 All awards are to be given away only at the GB meetings of the Association.
21.13 The awardees shall be required to present herself/himself personally at the meeting and may briefly present his/her work for which the award is given. The AMI may provide III AC travel fare to each awardees (other than Poster awardees), subject to availability of funds.
No award will be given in ABSENTIA except when the awardee is bedridden and is unable to travel for a long time The award can however be deferred for a year or two, if the awardee is abroad on a official assignment or for studies or is ill temporarily, in which case the award will be conferred in the following year. The award will however deemed to have lapsed if the awardee does not respond a second time even after an official intimation by the GS with a genuine reason. And the award money will be put back into the capital fund.
21.13 All decisions made by the Central Council regarding the awards and approved by the General body of AMI are final and not subject to any judicial scrutiny or interpretation.
21.14 The Performa for applying for awards and appropriate guide lines will be provided by the General Secretary in the announcement through first circular uploading on AMI's website.

22. Specific rules for Awards

22.1 AMI-Prof. S.R. Vyas Memorial Award (Biennial): The award will be given once in TWO Years out of the interest accrued in the AMI-Prof. S.R.Vyas Memorial Fund. The size of the award will be decided by the Central Council from time to time depending on the funds available for the purpose but shall not be less than 20,000/- in cash and a citation.

22.1.1 There shall be no minimum number of names to be considered for this award.
22.1.2 The nominee for this award should be above the age of 50 years, a Life member or an annual member of the Association of continuous standing (at least 10 years) and should have contributed significantly for the development of Microbiology in India or abroad as demonstrated by his work and publications.
22.1.3 Following the announcement of the award, any member of AMI can nominate a person to the General Secretary of the association within the time limit specified.
The General Secretary shall then consolidate the list and inform the President, who shall then in consultation with the General Secretary, constitute a committee of 3 eminent persons to scrutinize the applications merit and report back to the General Secretary directly individually. .
5 The majority decision of the scrutinizing committee shall be communicated to the Central Council by the GS and the result will be communicated to the awardee at least one month before the date of the General Body meeting.
The awardee shall present him-self/her-self at the General Body meeting, make a brief presentation of his/her work and receive the award. The award shall not be given in absentia except under rule 21.14.
Other rules apply as under rule 21.

This is a biennial award and will be given out of the interest that accrues in the AMI-Prof. G. Rangasamy Memorial award fund. The award will constitute cash and a citation
22.2.2 Presently, the award consists of a cash prize of 20, 000/- and a citation, which may change from time to time.
22.2.3 The award is for an eminent Microbiologist in the area of `Agricultural Microbiology´. Who is expected to make a presentation of his work at the Annual conference of AMI for which he is awarded?
22.2.4 The recipient of the award should be between 50-65 years.
22.2.5 There is no minimum number of applications required for this award.
22.2.6 Other rules prescribed under Rule 21, 22 and 22.1 shall apply for selection of candidate

This award will be given to an eminent Microbiologist, who has also served the Association with distinction.
22.3.2 The awardee will be presented with a shawl, a citation, a memento and a token amount of 30,000/- Thirty thousand only) besides Economy class airfare to receive the award at the annual AMI conference. The award will be paid out of the AMI account and is likely to change.
22.3.3 The amount of award money may change only with the approval of the General body
22.3.4 The local organizers of the AMI conference will provide free accommodation and registration to the awardee.
22.3.5 The award may be given in absentia if the awardee is not able to attend the conference in person to receive the award due to serious reasons and communicates this to the General Secretary, the Central council may decide if the honour can be given in absentia.
22.3.6 The awardee, if present, may respond to the award briefly.
22.3.7 There may be only one award every year and both retired and serving microbiologists above the age of 60 years would be considered.
22.3.8 The selection of the awardee will be done by the Central council of AMI and no applications will be called for this purpose.

This award is Triennial, and will include cash and a citation

22.4.1 It is open preferably to all AMI Life members of at east 10 years standing.
22.4.2 Applicants must have contributed significantly to any area of Microbiology and must have done most of their research work preferably in India and shall be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI- Alembic Award fund.
22.4.3. The award will include cash of 20,000/- and a citation
22.4.3 The applicant should be below the age of 45 years
22.4.4 Other rules shall apply as in Rule 21.

The AMI-Manjrekar award is open to all AMI members and will be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI-Manjrekar award fund.
22.5.1 The award will include cash of 20,000/- and a citation.
22.5.3 Applicants should be below the age of 60 years and should be a life member or a member of the AMI for at least 10 years continuous standing and have contributed significantly to Industrial Microbiology, preferably in India.
22.5.4 Other rules prescribed under Rule 21 shall apply.

The AMI-Louis Pasteur award is open to all AMI members and shall be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI-Pasteur Award fund.
22.6.2 The award shall be given once in 3 (three) years and will include cash of 10,000/- and a citation.
22.6.3 Applicants should be below the age of 60 years and should be a Life member or a member of AMI for at least 10 years continuous standing
22.6.4 The applicant should have contributed significantly to the areas of Fermentation or Medical Microbiology, preferably in India.
22.6.5 Other rules prescribed under Rule 21 shall apply.

The Association shall give out six awards, one award each in Agriculture, Industrial, Medical & Veterinary, and Molecular, Dairy & food and Environmental Microbiology to young Microbiologists of India. This number may change with time and the CC of AMI will decide about the number. 22.7.2 The awards will be Annual and each will include cash of 5000/-(may change with time) and a citation.
22.7.3 The awards will be given away at the GB meeting during the AMI conferences. The awardees may be required to make a brief presentation of the work for which they are rewarded.
22.7.4 The awards will be given out of the interest accrued in the Funds in AMI-Young Scientists awards and the size of the awards will be determined by the Central Council.
22.7.5 Applicants should be of less than 35 years of age and must have demonstrated their capacity as Microbiologists and should be member of the Association at the time of applying for the award.
22.7.6 The awardees may also be given travel assistance if desired. He/she will be paid a IIIrd AC fare subject to availability of funds.
22.7.7. The waiving of registration fee and free accommodation including local hospitality of all young scientist awardees will be borne by the Organizers .

There will be six best poster awards at every annual conference of AMI, one each in each sub discipline (Agriculture, Industrial, Medical & Veterinary, Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology, Dairy & Food and Environmental Microbiology) This may however change with time and the Central council will decide this number with intimation to the General Body.
22.8.2 The process of selecting the best poster in each category will be decided by the Central council at the annual conference in consultation with the Organizing Secretary/ Organizing Chairman of the conference. 22.8.3 Each award will be worth 2000/- (Two thousand only) and will be given at the end of the annual conference from the funds available with the Treasurer.
22.8.4 The organizers or any other participating agency may also announce spot awards for best posters, in specific areas and the award size, will be determined by the General Secretary in consultation with the concerned.

This award shall be given to the Best Poster paper presented at the AMI conference. All posters presented at the conference are entitled to compete.
22.9.2 The award shall consist of a cash award of 4000/- (Four thousand only) given out of the interest accrued from the Dr. R. S. Rana memorial Best Poster award fund and a citation.
22.9.3 The procedure for selection shall involve review of the various posters by a selection committee approved jointly by the organizers and the General Secretary, whose decision will be final.

Since the Journal is open to all to publish their papers, there shall be no restriction for being a member of the Association.
22.10.2 All papers published in the Indian Journal of Microbiology during preceding year shall be considered for the award.
22.10.3 The award will consist of a cash award of 3000/- and a citation.(liable to change with time) and shall be given out of the interest accrued in the Prof. J. V. Bhat - AMI Best paper published award fund.
22.10.4 For selecting the awardee, the General Secretary shall obtain copies of the journal from the Editor - in - Chief and send the same to one or two eminent Microbiologists, who shall review and report back to the General Secretary the paper that deserves to be honored. The decision of the referee shall be final. However, if as per the opinion of the referee(s) there is no paper worth honoring, the Secretary may then send the Journals to another referee, whose decision shall be final.
22.10.5 Once the process of selection is over, the General Secretary shall obtain the concurrence of the President or C.C. and shall inform the first author who shall be present at the next GB of the Association to receive the award.

23. AMI-Travel grants

The AMI may support travel grants to young life members of AMI (below the age of 35), for participating annual conference of AMI, whose papers have been accepted for presentation at the AMI conference. Detailed guidelines will be available on AMI website

23.1 The travel grants shall cover II class Railway fares by the shortest route. The funds for this shall come from interest from funds earmarked for this purpose.
23,2 The number of travel grants available will depend on the funds available and the GS, based on regional distribution, shall make primary scrutiny before placing to CC for approval.
23,3. Those interested in utilizing this facility should inform the General Secretary of AMI soon after their paper is accepted at the conference, along with a copy of the paper and the acceptance letter.
23.4 AMI may also consider granting partial travel assistance and registration fees to one or two members to facilitate them to attend International conference recognized by AMI.
23.5 Full details will be worked out by the Central council after a corpus has been developed for this purpose.

24. Felicitation of AMI members on receiving National/International Awards/Fellowship

The General Secretary in his first circular shall request all members of AMI to inform him about he/she having received any national, international or other awards by the members. He shall then incorporate this information in his annual report to the General Body.

All those who receive a national award from agencies such as ICAR, ICMR, CSIR, DST, AEC, UGC, DBT and academic bodies or any other governmental organization shall be felicitated at the conferences provided they inform the GS and submit letter of award. The nature of felicitation should include a brief citation and a medal/ Neck Tie with AMI logo/ bring out his or her brief in INJM/news letter.
24.2 The local organizing committee should felicitate only those who have contributed to the Development of Microbiology in India or Abroad or to the development of the AMI. The local organizers may however acknowledge the help financial or otherwise received from any supporter of the conference/ supporting awards.
24.3 The local unit and the local organizers may also honor any AMI member who has received a national, international or local award that it deems fit at its own level without approval of AMI.

25. Legal assistance

Any legal matter related to the functioning of the AMI and IJM, will be handled by a legal expert (lawyer) who shall be paid a remuneration as agreed mutually by the General secretary in consultation with President and Treasurer and the lawyer concerned.

26. Closure

In case AMI comes to closure, the Bank balance and assets of the AMI will be vested to President of India.

AMI RULES