DDCA's irregularities touched by the media

For those of you unaware of this and not having had the time to read the papers, there was an interesting article on the conflict of interest in one of the national dailies, The Indian Express, last weekend.

The article, written by contributing editor Surjit Bhalla, talked about conflict of interest and how ministers involved in the running of the game of cricket vehemently opposed BCCI coming under Right to Information Act. It also said that the Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill was announced by the Congress within three days of the IPL scandal of 2013. However, shockingly, the BCCI and IPL were kept out of it. We’ll reserve discussion on it for later period. What we’ll talk about is how the article made references copiously to the association we all love and hate in equal measure, the DDCA.

In 2007, BCCI’s NGO status was cancelled by the Union government. Before that, it was not taxed as it was supposed to be producing something for ‘public good’, a key requirement for an NGO.

It is here the article exposes the ills within the workings of the DDCA.

It says, “While it is difficult to obtain balance sheet data for the BCCI prior to 2007, the balance sheet data of one of its premier constituents, the DDCA, are available for two years, 1997-98 and 1999-2000. In Schedule I to R, it is reported that coaching expenses of the DDCA (the public good item) in 1997-98 were zilch (yes, zero) and in 1998-99, such expenses were Rs 20,727. Total DDCA income for the two years was Rs 88 lakh and Rs 200 lakh respectively. So, clearly not a lot was spent on coaching and maybe that is why the Delhi teams cannot win anything!”

It adds, “But one line item in the expenses sheet makes for extraordinary reading. The DDCA is a club, and as such, it serves liquor to its members and their guests. The income from “sale of empty bottles” (presumably liquor) was Rs 22,372 and Rs 24,406 in the two years. In other words, the DDCA received more income from the sale of empty liquor bottles than it spent on coaching.”

This is in the good old days, when probably coaches and coaching weren’t needed that much.  You may argue that DDCA is obviously a club and if people enjoy a drink, then what’s the harm. Also, you may say that at least they showed the sale of empty bottles as income.

However, what you’ll read further will shake you and make you wonder how inefficient DDCA has been:

“In 2010-11, the DDCA spent Rs 3.8 crore on renovation and beautification of toilets at the FSK (Ferozeshah Kotla) constructed just three years earlier, in 2007-08. The MSM (Mainstream media) did not find this newsworthy. Nor has it found it newsworthy to report that Lalit Modi spent Rs 20 crore in the renovation of the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur during 2005-08. The world can see the difference — the DDCA spending Rs 150 crore to “renovate” Kotla and what just Rs 20 crore can buy in Jaipur. Oh yes, not only has the DDCA spent money inefficiently, but it has also been illegally occupying the stadium ground for the last 12 years (the lease expired in 2002) — and has been allowed to do so primarily by the UPA, and now by the BJP.”

A couple of years back, Hindustan Times carried a report on how the DDCA is occupying the stadium without having paid the lease amount, making their occupation illegal. Well, till date no action has been taken.