With elections around, frustration over non-payment hits top gear

As elections to the DDCA Sports Committee near, there is a lot of tension building up. For those who may not know, then here is a fresh take on the old issue that keeps cropping up time and again. With the season coming to an end, umpires officiating at the DDCA league matches are getting nothing and neither is anything being paid to curators. An umpire recently told Delhi Cricket that many people are planning to leave the job because they are not getting the money due to them.

Two reports this year, one in the Hindustan Times which touched upon the point that the groundsmen are not getting anything and therefore chief curator Venkat Sundaram had quit and another in The Hindu which talked about non-payment to umpires, have brought the issue to light.

At the heart of this controversy is a clause in the Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, under which the DDCA has been constituted. It disallows payment to the members. In this case, many officials, including umpires, curators, coaches and selectors are ineligible to be paid as they also happen to be members.

Sunil Dev, the sports secretary, is reportedly not signing cheques that are due to umpires. Sports Committee officials, including chairman, Ahmad Tameem has made their displeasure known. However, Dev denies it and says he is willing to sign them. “I have no problems and I am ready to sign,” he says.

Speaking on the issue, DDCA president Sneh Bansal clarified to Delhi Cricket, “Who says Sunil Dev is not signing the cheques. He is ready to do so. It is just that a clause doesn’t allow payments to members. Now, if we release cheques to the non-members, won’t the members feel bad? We have written to the ministry of corporate affairs and are awaiting their reply. If they give the go-ahead then we would make payments, otherwise we’ll think of a solution.”

That Arun Jaitley is the Union Finance Minister may just help DDCA’s cause a bit and it would be a relief to many who are sweating it out in scorching summer.

In the case of no permission, the likely solution is that non-members will be paid the money as fees while members will be paid under the head ‘expenses’.

However, the current Sports Committee, which has decided to change a lot of things, is getting edgy. They want the payments to be made before the elections take place (in July) and therefore are not blamed for the impasse.