Having been stalled for over six months in the process of Parliament, the Bill bring UK Charity Law into the 21st century finally started its progress through the Lower House last week. Reading through the debate is not for the faint hearted but for anyone wanting a way to judge the cultism of Elan Vital against the common standards of a modern society, the exchanges in the UK Parliament are actually quite useful - :
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060626/debtext/60626-0643.htm
There is one statement that seems to sum up, at a very practical level, where the disjunction between EV and the wider UK society exists. There are some 160,000 charities in England and Wales, involved in over £38 billion worth of activity; almost every charity has a broad spectrum of representation in its management. By contrast EV UK - like every other Rawat organisation is run by Boards and employees who are 30 year + lifers; even if more recent converts were to be given responsibility that would only extend to people who had watched over 60 hours of Rawat's blatherings and agreed that he made some kind of sense !
Speaking on behalf of the Government - Edward Miliband (The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office) said about the intention for the new regime of regulation :
"My understanding, and that of the Charity Commission, is that trustee bodies should be diverse and properly reflect the interests of beneficiaries."
Every Rawat organisation could, if it wished, act immediately to improve the diversity of its Trustees and Management Boards - simply by allocating a place to an independent Trustee - someone brought in from outside purely for their ability to contribute to the effective running of the organisation. After all if the purpose of the organisations is 'education' there should be no essential need for a Trustee to be a Rawat meditator.
Nik
