कसौटी विचार मंच
Founding Charter · draft v0.2

Ten articles, on the record

Before KASAUTI registers as a legal entity, its foundations are published here for community consultation — so the institution is accountable to its charter from the very first day.

Draft for consultation. This charter is not yet ratified and is not legal drafting. Comments and challenges are welcome — that is rather the point of the name. Write to [email protected].

Changed in v0.2 — Articles 2 and 3 now speak at the level of the framework: KASAUTI holds the method; each registered community initiative carries its own named commitment to its own community. Corrections in the open, per Article 9.

  1. Article 1
    Name

    KASAUTI — कसौटी विचार मंच. The kasauti is the goldsmith's touchstone; we test ideas as our forebears tested gold.

  2. Article 2
    Purpose

    Independent research, dialogue and experimentation for the educational, economic, social and leadership advancement of communities — building tested models of community development for broad public benefit.

  3. Article 3
    Focus

    Each community initiative begins deep in one community, extends through its wider family, and shares what works with all. Initiatives register with KASAUTI; delivery belongs to each community's own institutions.

  4. Article 4
    Method

    विचार → कसौटी → परख → समाधान → परिवर्तन. Dialogue surfaces ideas; research tests them; pilots prove them; programmes scale them; measurement keeps us honest.

  5. Article 5
    Independence

    KASAUTI belongs to its mission — not to its founder, any donor, or any organisation, including founding partners.

  6. Article 6
    Boundaries

    Non-political, non-religious, non-factional. No claims without evidence; no platform for personal promotion.

  7. Article 7
    People

    A small accountable membership and board; term limits; Fellows appointed on merit and contribution; conflicts disclosed as routine.

  8. Article 8
    Money

    Diversified funding; donors may choose areas, never conclusions; funders above a threshold disclosed annually; nothing solicited before lawful registration.

  9. Article 9
    Openness

    Methods, findings and failures published; research returned to the community in accessible form; errors corrected in the open.

  10. Article 10
    Continuity

    The institution is built to outlive its founder; succession is designed, not improvised; this charter binds future leadership to the standard on which KASAUTI itself asks to be judged.