Our Club

Establishment of Provisional Club in 1947

Shri B.R. James, I.C.S. then District and Session Judge, Meerut (afterwards elevated to High Court Bench) made the first attempt to organise the local Rotary Club. With some of his official friends and local gentry he started the Provisional Rotary Club in 1947. Volga Hotel, Meerut (where now St. Mary’s Academy stands) was chosen as the venue of its meetings. The following were the office bearers:

Office Bearers:

Directors:

Rtn. Pt. Suraj Bal Dixit
Rtn. Dr. B.R Chatterji

Sargent-at-Arms:

Rtn. M.M. Saifi

Several meetings of the club were held; one was addressed by Rtn. Dr. Durga Prasad of Dehradun Rotary Club on the aims and objects of Rotary, and others mainly by the members.

Five committees were constituted-the four main committees and one classification committee. A printed Members Bulletin was started and six numbers were issued. Unfortunately the effort did not bear fruit and the Charter could not be obtained. After about eight months the activities were terminated. There was no activity on the Rotary front till September 1950.

Establishment of Rotary Club

The next attempt was made by Shri K.C. Batra, then Agent, Imperial Bank of India (now State Bank of India) Meerut, and it was successful. With the active help of Prof. S.Ghosh of Meerut College and a few others, Shri Batra conceived on Organisation meeting at his Imperial Bank House, Meerut. On 14th Sept. 1950 founder members agreed to organise a regular Rotary Club in Meerut. Rtn. Maheshwari Dayal, District and Session Judge, Meerut was proposed and elected as the first President.

Wheler Club was settled as the venue of club’s regular meetings which remained unchanged till 1994. Similarly Thursday was fixed for meetings. Thursday, is still continuing. Each meeting was a tea meeting. In this way the Club entered its second and fruitful phase of life. Secretary Rtn. S. Ghosh applied at an early stage to the R.I. for issue of Charter and the Club was admitted to the membership of Rotary International on 1.3.1951.

Grant of Charter

The meetings succeeded in creating an intellectual atmosphere in the club and a thirst for general knowledge which broadened their outlook on important topics of the day and life in general. The meetings succeeded in maintaining the interest of the members of the club, created the Rotary habit of meeting their colleagues weekly and maintaining a fellow feeling amongst themselves, and naturally it also developed a common outlook which, alone can create a Rotary objective. Such an achievement during the first stage of the Club can by no means be called meagre.

The next landmark in the history of our club was the grant of charter (No. 7714 dated 1st March, 1951) by the Rotary International. The historic event of the presentation of Charter took place in our meeting of 22nd April, 1951. Prominent guests, officials and non-officials, were invited, fellow rotarians from Dehradun and Agra Rotary Clubs turned up and a very successful meeting was held. Rtn. Governor Dr. Durga Prasad of Dehradun who nursed our club since 1947, presented the charter to our Founder President Rtn. Maheshwari Dayal.