Speeches :
PRESIDENTIAL MEMBERSHIP CONFERENCE – BANGALORE - 3rd DECEMBER – 2007
“ GROWTH IS THE ONLY EVIDENCE OF LIFE ” – Said Henry Newmen.
Rotary is very much concerned with its
declining membership in spite of very determined efforts to increase the number
of Rotarians. In spite of starting nearly 500 new clubs, every year, the
absolute number is on a decline.
Where is the Resistance?
Is Rotary becoming too costly?
Are the young business and professional men and women too involved in their business to spare time for Rotary?
Does the stress and fast pace of the competitive world of today prevents the growth of Rotary?
Does Rotary not present challenging tasks equal to the capabilities of the young men and women?
Are there egotism, intolerance, groupism, rivalry and such other evils that disillusion a newly inducted Rotarian?
Is the new entrant not given responsibilities and chances to show the worth?
(1)The answer is not quite so simple. Each of the above factors and some more is the root cause of declining membership.
We need to make “service” fashionable.
We need to retain our members with more care.
We need to assimilate the new members assiduously.
We need to tackle more challenging tasks.
We need to make Rotary simple and affordable.
We need to attract more young men and women and assign them tasks that will draw out the best in them.
We need to promote the “FAMILY” atmosphere in Rotary.
We need to appreciate, applaud and recognize.
And we need to do all these urgently 
Membership is a crucial facet of Rotary and there are many areas within its ambit that need to be addressed. The role of the proposer, the role of the Club leadership, the responsibilities of ALL members, the role of the families, the need for continuous Rotary information and education, the need for exposure to service activities and many such areas of Membership must be simultaneously addressed to ensure a healthy membership.
Rotary’s concern for increasing membership in Rotary is reflected in designating August as “Membership Development and extension month”. In order to meet the challenges of future, it is imperative that Rotary grown in number. It needs more hands to serve. I compare Rotary to the Statue of Venus de Milo proudly exhibited at Loudres Museum in Paris.. A visitor once remarked “It is so beautiful, it looks so elegant. It is so pleasing to the eyes but alas, it has no hands.
(2) Rotary is like this statue. beautiful and elegant. But it has no hands. But then you have yours and your hands are Rotary’s hands. Let us grow to get many more WILLING hands to serve. Let us, of course, ensure that new hands are willing.
There once was a taxi driver living in Harlem in New York City who changed his residence to down town and wished to join a church in the neighbourhood. Said the priest “Why do you want to join this Church? You already have a Church in Harlem where you are being looked after”
“But I am now staying in this area “said the Taxi driver.
“There is no reason to change the Church; you can as well go to that Church on Sunday”
“But it is most inconvenient”
“That is not a valid excuse” said the Priest.
And every time he requested the priest, he got the same answers.
One day, he had a dream where he met the Lord face to face. Complained the taxi driver “Lord, I am trying very hard to gain entry into the Church at the corner but I am always refused admission”
And the Lord said “Do not
complain, my friend, even I have been trying to enter that Church for the last
twenty years and I am unable to do so” 
(3) Do not refuse entry to people who have a genuine desire to do so. Rotary will then not only grow outwardly in number but with the entry of willing and young people, it will grow inwardly in values. And with the entry of women in Rotary, things are destined to change with remarkable results.
A conference such as this, with R I President at its helm is one of the best ways to educate Rotarians. Almost every aspect of the programme of Membership Growth and Membership Retention will be presented to the audience and coming from the stalwarts, who represent the cream of Rotary, there is going to be feast of information, ideas and solutions.
Remember that Rotary devotes a lot of time, lots of energy and lots of efforts to ensure the growth. Yet, the results have been disappointing. The conference such as this one will expose us to novel ideas and novel methods to keeps us from dwindling in numbers. We expect very important inputs from our faculty and I am confident that we will emerge successful in controlling our losses through brilliant ideas presented at this meet.
Let us pledge to keep Rotary growing.
Thanks a million – All the best.
ASHOK MAHAJAN
DIRECTOR – ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
Copyright (c)2011 Ashokmahajan.com
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