Ramakrishna Mission - Administration

Administration

The Ramakrishna Math is administered by democratically elected Board of Trustees. From amongst themselves the Trustees elect President, Vice-Presidents, General Secretary, Assistant Secretaries and Treasurer. For the confirmation of the election of the President, Vice-Presidents and the General Secretary, the opinion of monks of twenty years standing is sought and taken.

The Ramakrishna Mission is administered by a Governing Body, which is composed of the Trustees of Ramakrishna Math. The headquarters of Ramakrishna Math at Belur (popularly known as Belur Math) serves also as the headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission. A branch centre of Ramakrishna Math is managed by a team of monks posted by the Trustees led by a head monk with the title Adyaksha. A branch centre of Ramakrishna Mission is governed by a Managing Committee consisting of monks and lay persons appointed by the Governing Body of Ramakrishna Mission whose Secretary functions as the executive head.

All the monks of the Ramakrishna Order form the democratic base of the administration. A representative meeting of all monks is held every three years when the report of all the activities of the Organization are approved and the accounts passed and guidance sought for further development.

This conference places its seal of approval on the decisions taken by the Trustees elected by them and gives policy guidance.

The scope of the Administration follows the detailed rules made by Swami Vivekananda when he was the General President of Ramakrishna Mission after the monastic brothers opined that there should be specific rules for the work of the Ramakrishna Mission (as the Ramakrishna Movement is commonly known). These rules were dictated by Swami Vivekananda to Swami Suddhananda, between 1898 to 1899, and has been accepted as the consensus of the opinion of all the monks of the Ramakrishna Mission then, consisting of all the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and their disciples. Later for clear and formal legal confirmation of these rules, a Trust Deed was registered by Swami Vivekananda and many of the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, during 1899 - 1901.