
People & Processes
Bala Mandir has a well-defined management process which has evolved over the years and enables the organization to seamlessly operate over the long term.
Who runs Bala Mandir and how?
Bala Mandir is a registered society under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. Elected from and by the General Body of volunteer members, an “Executive Committee” (EC) of 20 committed members volunteer their time and expertise for the specific responsibilities they undertake within Bala Mandir. A few among them hold office to oversee the efficient and smooth functioning of its various service activities. Headed by the President, Honorary General Secretary and Treasurer, the EC meets quarterly to review the progress in each area and plan for corrective actions where necessary.
Bala Mandir’s activities are divided into “units” which work independently in specific areas. They are supported by a common group of support services including Accounts, HR, IT, Donations and Sponsorship, Administration etc. which enable the unit to concentrate on the core activities. Each unit’s operations come under the charge of member(s) who guide and support the operating teams, who are mostly paid employees
The focus of activities of each unit are different and members in-charge, along with the help of a sub-committee, focus attention on the effective execution of the plans. The members of the sub-committee include along with other EC members,
- professionals who advise on the specific field of child care development,
- employees who head the unit and implement the activities and
- social workers who bring in the child and community perspective.
The various subcommittees are as follows
- Children’s Home – Child Care + Rehabilitation including adoption – Chennai
- Children’s Home – Nagercoil
- Education
- Kinship Care
- BM MNC – Children with Special Needs
- BMRRC – Outreach activities related to Early Childhood and Parenting practices
The sub-committee makes a detailed quarterly review of the various activities, advises the unit on day-to-day implementation challenges, helps define plans for corrective measures and suggests ways and means of enhancing and sustaining quality. These reports are presented to the EC ensuring co-ordinated working across the organisation.
As Bala Mandir moves forward taking on new initiatives to enhance its services, more sub-committees will be formed to enable focus and delegation to ensure qualitative inputs into its functioning.
Paid employees at different levels are the backbone of the organisation. They handle the day to day working and help achieve the clearly defined goals in each area, through a well-planned routine / calendar established over the years. They are encouraged to excel and perform efficiently while remaining committed to the code of conduct, ethics and value systems of Bala Mandir.
Social workers and childcare professionals have been appointed to ensure that the perspective of the children is not diluted in any way. Their work focuses on specific age groups of children and they provide an independent perspective to the working of the units and the issues faced by the children
Board of Trustees
At an overall advisory level there is a Board of Trustees – persons with experience and eminence who safeguard the assets of the organisation, play the role of friends, philosophers and guides to the management team of Bala Mandir, and ensure that the initiatives for the future are well directed and pursued with rigour.
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall policies and advise and guide the Executive committee in its work. They are also responsible for all the assets of the organisation and ensure its safeguard. They also review the overall image, compliance and legal issues.
List Of Trustees
| 1 | Mr. N. Kumar | Trustee / President |
| 2 | Mrs. Maya Gaitonde | Trustee / Honorary General Secretary (HGS) |
| 3 | Mr.P.Natarajan | Trustee / Treasurer |
| 4 | Mr.Manoj Kumar Sonthalia | Trustee |
| 5 | Ms. Girija Vaidyanathan | Trustee |
| 6 | Mr. Ramesh Mangaleswaran | Trustee |
| 7 | Ms. Prabha Sridevan | Trustee |
List of Bala Mandir Executive Committee Members
| S.No. | Name | Designation/ Role |
| 1 | Mr. N. Kumar | President |
| 2 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde | Hon. General Secretary |
| 3 | Mr.P.Natarajan | Hon. Treasurer |
| 4 | Mr. M. Venkataraman | Hon Jt Treasurer/ Edu. Unit |
| 5 | Ms. Leela Natarajan | Hon Jt Secretary / Ch. Home Cultural Activities |
| 6 | Mr. Bharath Natarajan | Hon. Jt Secretary / MNC |
| 7 | Mr. N. SivaSubramanian | Member / Finance |
| 8 | Dr. P. J. N. Reddy | Member / Medical |
| 9 | Mr. G. Anbumani | Member / Legal Matters |
| 10 | Ms. Swathanthra Sakthivel | Member / Edu. Unit |
| 11 | Ms. Preethi Krishnan | Member / Edu. Unit |
| 12 | Ms. Sujatha Sethuraman | Member/Ch.Home |
| 13 | Ms. Hema Sridharan | Member / Ch. Home |
| 14 | Ms. Kalpagam Narayanan | Member / Ch. Home |
| 15 | Ms. Lakshmi Nair | Member / Nagercoil unit |
| 16 | Ms. Dhvani Anumolu | Member / BMRRC |
| 17 | Ms. Rukmini Amirapu | Member / BMRRC |
| 18 | Mr. Ravichandran L | Member / Kinship Care | 19 | Ms. Latha Kumaraswami | Member |
Sub Committees
Children’s Home – Chennai
| 1 | Ms. Leela Natarajan |
| 2 | Mr. P. Natarajan MIC – Boys section |
| 3 | Dr. P .J. N.Reddy MIC – Medical |
| 4 | Ms. Sujatha Sethuraman MIC – Girl’s Section |
| 5 | Ms. Hema Sridharan |
| 6 | Ms. Smita Aiyar |
| 7 | Ms. Chitra Krishnan |
| 8 | Ms. Veena Superintendent |
| 9 | Ms. Jenifer -Adoption |
| 10 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
Children’s Home – Nagercoil
| 1 | Ms. Lakshmi Nair – MIC |
| 2 | Mr. Dinesh Krishnan |
| 3 | Dr. Gopal Surendran |
| 4 | Ms. Vijayakumari |
| 5 | Ms.Prema Rajagopal |
| 6 | Ms. Uma Kannan |
| 7 | Ms. Lekshmi Priya |
| 8 | Ms. Jasmine – Superintendent |
| 9 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
Education
| 1 | Mr. P. Natarajan MIC – SHMS |
| 2 | Mr. M. Venkatraman MIC – Vidyalaya |
| 3 | Ms. PreethiKrishnan Coordinator ECCD |
| 4 | Mr. D. Chandrasekhar |
| 5 | Ms. Radha Vasudevan |
| 6 | Ms. Swathanthra Sakthivel |
| 7 | Mr. Bharath Natarajan |
| 8 | Ms.Meena Suresh |
| 9 | Ms. Mala-HM Vidyalaya |
| 10 | Ms.Janani – Cord SMHS |
| 11 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
BM MNC
| 1 | Mr. Bharath Natarajan – MIC |
| 2 | Mr. S. Krishnan |
| 3 | Ms. Vimala Kannan |
| 4 | Dr. Janaki Balakrishnan |
| 5 | Ms. Andal Raghavan |
| 6 | Ms. Aruna Rathnam |
| 7 | Ms.Dhvani Anumolu |
| 8 | Ms.Sarala Guruswamy |
| 9 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
BMRRC
| 1 | Ms. Rukmini Amirapu – MIC |
| 2 | Ms. Dhvani Anumolu – MIC |
| 3 | Mr. P. Natarajan |
| 4 | Dr. Aruna Rathnam |
| 5 | Ms. Janaki Balakrishnan |
| 6 | Ms. Preethi Krishnan |
| 7 | Mr. M. Venkataraman |
| 8 | Ms.Bindu- Director |
| 9 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
Kinship Care
| 1 | Mr. P. Natarajan |
| 2 | Mr. L. Ravichandran – MIC |
| 3 | Mr. Venkataraman |
| 4 | Mr. G. V. Kumar |
| 5 | Mr. K. G. Murali |
| 6 | Ms. Sujatha Sethuraman |
| 7 | Ms. Sarada Jagan |
| 8 | Ms. Vijayalakshmi Ramesh |
| 9 | Ms. Vijayalakshmi – Coordinator |
| 10 | Ms. Rajalakshmi – Coordinator |
| 11 | Ms. Maya Gaitonde – HGS |
