“A
good Christian creates the good and rejoices in God’s plenty
and co-operate with God in creating supreme joy for himself
and for the Society”
`The
Family Relief Scheme’
is introduced with a view to look into the heart of this
Christian message and receive its inspiration when we are
given the privilege to share each other.
1.
Name of the Scheme
The name
of the Scheme shall be “The Family Relief Scheme of the St.
Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church, Kuwait” hereinafter
referred to, for convenience, as the “Scheme”.
2.
Objective
The
objective of the Scheme shall be to provide financial
assistance to the family of a member in the event of his/her
natural/accidental death or physical disability within or
outside Kuwait. This clause is further clarified as
follows:-
Disability shall be understood as 100% physical disability
by which the victim
become permanently unfit for a job to meet his livelihood.
3.
Membership
A.
Any fully subscribed member of our Parish whose name
appears in the register of the Parish or his wife shall be
eligible for membership, and any such member of the Parish
or his wife may become a member of the Scheme upon
submitting an Application for membership to the Secretary of
the parish, in the prescribed form, counter-signed by the
Vicar of the Parish, and paying the necessary subscription
towards the Scheme.
B.
A member shall automatically forfeit his/her
membership if and when:
1.
A member ceases to be a member of the Parish.
2.
A member is absent, for any reason whatsoever from
the State of Kuwait continuously for a period of 180 days or
more. This is not applicable to female spouses of Members
who are also members of the Scheme and residing outside
Kuwait for whatever reason.
3.
A member, if present in Kuwait and fails to subscribe
towards the Scheme within 45 days from the first
announcement of a fresh call for subscription. However, at
the time of a fresh call, if the member is not in Kuwait,
he/she will have the right to subscribe within 45 days from
arrival in Kuwait or 180 days from the date of the call,
whichever is earlier.
4.
A member is in arrears, whether in part or full, for
a period of one year to settle his Parish dues.
5.
A dependent member whose head of the family (husband)
is in arrears, whether in part or full, for a period of one
year to settle his Parish dues.
6.
A member leaves the State of Kuwait for good.
C.
A person ceased to be a member of the Scheme for any
reason as contained in B.2, B.3, B.4 & B.5 shall be at
liberty to reinstate his/her membership without submitting
fresh application for membership, at any time after paying a
fresh subscription fee.
D.
However, for such reinstated members, a gestation
period of 1 month from the date of payment of subscription
will be applicable, and no claim for benefits will be
entertained during this period.
E.
A person ceased membership as contained in B.1 & B.6,
should submit a fresh application form to regain his/her
membership in the Scheme together with the subscription
fee.
F.
For all new applicants, there will be a gestation
period of 3 months from the date of payment of subscription,
during which period no claim for benefits will be
entertained under this Scheme.
G.
During the call period, as referred in Clause 3.B.3,
members are fully covered and eligible for benefit.
H.
Failure in the part of a member to receive a call,
either verbally from the Prayer Group Secretaries or
Managing Committee members or as announced in the Church by
the Vicar after the Holy Qurbana shall not be interpreted or
accepted as excuse or reason for failure to pay the
subscription.
4.
Subscription
A.
Each member shall pay a non-refundable sum of KD. 5/-
(Kuwaiti Dinars Five only) as subscription as and when:
1.
The application is made for membership
2.
A fresh subscription is called at any time, which
will be announced in the church by the Vicar after the Holy
Qurbana or verbally informed by Managing Committee Members
or Prayer Group Secretaries.
(Existing members of the Scheme who have already paid KD.
3/- as subscription shall only be required to pay the new
fee on a fresh call).
B.
Subscription, as above shall be understood to be on
the basis of “one subscription, one incident of
death/disability of a member”
5.
Fund
A.
Church shall create a fund with an initial amount of
KD. 3,000/- (Kuwaiti Dinars Three thousand only) paid as
loan and each and every subscription collected shall be
utilized to repay the loan. Church shall always top-up the amount to KD. 3,000/- irrespective
of the amount collected or membership in the Scheme and pay
a fixed amount to the beneficiary of each incident.
B.
10% of the total collection of Harvest Festival shall
be allocated to this fund every year, until the total amount
in the Scheme reaches KD. 10,000/- after paying off any
loans outstanding in the church books on account of the
Scheme. At any given time, the total amount available in
the Scheme shall not exceed KD. 10,000/-
6.
Nominee
A.
A member shall declare through the membership form
one or two nominee(s) and in case of his/her having two
nominees, specifically mention for the purpose of payment
that the nominees are to be treated as ‘either or survivor’,
‘first or survivor’ or ‘first and second’. In the absence of
clear instruction, the amount available to the full extent
shall be equally divided among the nominees.
B.
A member shall advise the Secretary of the Parish, in
writing, endorsed by the Vicar, to be acknowledged by the
Vicar or the Secretary, of any change in his/her nominee(s),
and in such cases, the nominee(s) last advised by the member
shall be considered for all intents and purpose as his/her
nominee in all respects eligible for receiving the benefit
under the Scheme.
7.
Payment of
Benefit
A.
In the event of permanent disability or death of a
member, an amount of KD. 1,000/- (Kuwaiti Dinars One
thousand only) shall be paid to the member or to the
nominees of the deceased member as benefit under the
Scheme.
However, if a situation arise
where the Church has to undertake the responsibility to
repatriate the body of a deceased member or some initial
expenses in connection with repatriating the body of the
deceased person needs to be met locally or some initial
expenses to be met locally for a 100% physically disabled
member in Kuwait, then such expenses shall be deducted fully
from the amount payable to the beneficiary and the
beneficiary shall be duly notified of such
expenses/deductions, with details, at the time of payment of
the balance amount.
B.
In case of multiple incidents in excess of (3) at any
one time and if the funds available at that time is not
enough to pay at the above mentioned rate of KD. 1000/- per
claim, then the full amount available under the Scheme shall
be equally divided among all the claimants/ beneficiaries.
C.
In the event of disability of a member, the payment
to the member shall be paid only after producing 100%
disability certificate from the Ministry of Health attested
by the Vicar of his/her home or local parish.
D.
In the event of the nominee(s) of a deceased member not
surviving and/or the member did not declare a nominee, the
benefit will be paid to the legal heir/heirs of the deceased
who will be identified as the appropriate person(s) by the
Managing Committee of the Kuwait Parish.
E.
In the event of a nominee refusing to accept the
benefit in writing for any reason whatsoever, the full
benefit will be payable to the second nominee.
F.
In the event of both the nominees refusing to accept
the benefit in writing for any reason whatsoever, the
benefits available under the scheme shall be retained in the
books for payment as and when the next claim occurs. In
this case, a fresh invitation for subscription will not be
called.
G.
In the event of death of a member and the nominee is
in Kuwait, the benefit shall be paid by crossed bank draft
drawn from a local bank after receipt of a written request
for receiving the benefit from the nominee(s), countersigned
by his/her Parish Vicar.
H.
In the event of death of a member and the nominee is
not in Kuwait, the church shall take immediate steps to inform the nominee(s) about
the benefits and formalities to be complied with. In such
cases, the benefit shall be paid only against production of
an identity certificate by the nominee(s), obtained from not
below the rank of a Gazetted Officer together with a written
request, countersigned by his/her Parish Vicar.
I.
In the event of death of a member and the nominee is
not in Kuwait, the benefit shall be paid by crossed Demand
Draft drawn from a local bank and to be mailed by registered
post with acknowledgement due.
8.
Administration
A.
The Relief Scheme shall be administered by the Vicar
and the Secretary of the Parish and if necessary a member of
the Managing Committee can be elected (by the Managing
Committee) to provide necessary assistance.
B.
There shall be a separate Ledger for the Relief
Scheme, which shall be subject to yearly audit by the
auditors of the Parish.
C.
The general body of the Parish is the only body
empowered to make amendments to the By-law of the Scheme, by
simple majority.
D.
Any disputes arising from the interpretation of the
By-law or the mode of implementation of the Scheme shall be
decided/settled by the Managing Committee of the Parish and
such decision(s) shall be final.
E.
If, owing to circumstances beyond control, the Scheme
could not be continued, then the Managing Committee shall
have the right to decide the manner of disposal of any/all
funds available under the Scheme, subject to the approval of
the Parish General Body.
“With
the joyful be joyful, and mourn with the mourners”.
“Always aim at doing the best you can, for each other and
for all men”.
“Help one another to carry these heavy loads and in this
way,
you will fulfill the law of Christ”.