Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Adding to the DDCA’s already huge pile of embarrassments, its 100-strong disgruntled work force on Saturday said that it would boycott the next month’s India-South Africa Test, if it is held at the Ferozeshah Kotla, unless it received the salary for October, outstanding bonus, and payment for working ‘overtime’.
These employees working at the Ferozeshah Kotla are so angry that they recently rejected the Diwali gifts from the employers as a mark of protest for the non-payment of their dues.
The DDCA needs around Rs 85 lakh to make these payments. It is unable to pay mainly because it is virtually broke, though the problem is of its own making and culmination of years old financial and administrative mismanagement.
The DDCA ground staff working at the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi.
Today, the DDCA is said to have a mere Rs 13,000 in hand as the BCCI has stopped its share due to non-submission of balance sheets and accounts for two successive years.
(Also read: Delhi govt may host Test jointly with BCCI, no role for corruption-ridden DDCA)
“I must inform you something that the DDCA staff has decided. Whoever organises the Test match, provided it is held at all, none of our staff would work until and unless we get the October salary and other overdue payment,” a DDCA employee told JantaKaRaeporter.com
“Whether the Delhi government organises the match or the central government or anyone else, we will not work unless we receive our legitimate dues,” he said, fuming at the lackadaisical attitude of the DDCA administrators. “Salary is usually transferred to our bank accounts by 5th or 6th of every month. But today is November 16 and we still haven’t got the salary for October.”
The employee, who didn’t want to be identified, said that several other payments are due.
“Apart from the October salary, we also haven’t received the ‘overtime’ payment for the 2015 IPL matches that got over almost six months ago as well as the bonus,” he said. “These officials only know how to make us work, but don’t bother to pay our deserving remuneration.”
There are about 92 permanent employees and around eight causal workers. The total salary, including DDCA’s contribution to their provident fund, comes to around Rs 30 lakh. Apart from this, the DDCA also needs around Rs 30 lakh to pay the bonus, Rs 12.5 lakh to distribute in lieu of the 2015 IPL match tickets, and around Rs 12 lakh as ‘overtime’ payment to its employees.
A DDCA administrator, however, said that some of the payment the employees are claiming, like that of cash in lieu of IPL match tickets and working overtime, are disputed as those haven’t been ratified by the executive committee.
DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda said that the payments can’t be now made as the association doesn’t have funds.
“We have no money, though about Rs 7 crore is stuck in a bank as that account has been sealed. Our vendors, including GMR and BookMyShow, have to give us money, but that money is also stuck as there are some conditions attached to them. BCCI also owes DDCA’s money,” Manchanda told jankareporter.com, without committing on a time frame for making the payment.
The money that vendors owe to the DDCA is stuck only due to some of the association’s officials who are said to have either taken favours from them in kind or otherwise. A few ‘honest’ administrators who are trying to extract the dues from these vendors have been told about the favours taken by their own DDCA colleagues.
The DDCA received Rs 8 crore from the BCCI a few months ago and that amount was used for ‘cricketing activities’.
“At the time, these officials told us that our salary would be paid from that amount but, look, we’ve got nothing from that money. They distributed the money among the various clubs. Our contention is that those who own these clubs are already rich people and they don’t need the refreshment money etc. that they were given for,” said a DDCA employee.
Whether or not the fourth and final India-South Africa Test is played at the Kotla, the financial problems for the DDCA look like continuing unabated.
For the handful of people with clean image in the DDCA seeking to turnaround the fortunes of the association, the last ray of hope is from the Supreme Court-appointed RM Lodha Committee.
The former Chief Justice of India’s committee is set to give a report, suggesting reforms in the BCCI. And these suggestions, when implemented would trickle down to the BCCI’s affiliated associations, too, like the DDCA. Perhaps, then the DDCA administration would improve a bit. But, as they say, there is a many a slip between the lip and cup.