Office-bearers get DA of $750, Kohlis only $125
Timing & content of status report become the talking point
All along, Vinod Rai and his colleagues (now reduced to just Diana Edulji) had zero support within the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Not even among the more conscientious. That, however, has changed after Rai's Committee of Administrators (CoA) submitted its fifth status report to the Supreme Court, on Tuesday.
The timing and content are significant as the Supreme Court will, on Friday, again take up Board related matters.
Yes, yet again.
On Thursday, The Telegraph spoke to quite a few men closely associated with the Board and each one of them basically had three things to say.
Firstly, there was appreciation for Rai and Edulji enclosing annexures, which included the phenomenal amount spent on not only the Board's office-bearers, but their personal assistants as well.
Secondly, each one of them came across as extremely apprehensive about the Supreme Court's response to the latest report.
Thirdly, that as much as Rs 2,89,84,921 crore has been spent on acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry's travel and daily allowances, both within the country and overseas, is bound to further dent the Board's image.
The period taken into account is from April 2015 till June 2017.
Amitabh, of course, became the acting secretary in January (he'd been the joint-secretary from March 2015). Anirudh, on the other hand, has been the treasurer right through the period under scrutiny.
When the functions performed are in an honorary capacity, and much is made of that, the DA component obviously cannot go down well with the public at large.
"The loot is on... Now you know why there has been so much resistance to implementing the Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha committee's reforms," somebody who has represented an affiliated unit in the Board and served in a position of authority, told this Reporter.
That one comment, perhaps, reflects things perfectly.
It's not that everybody avails of the very generous daily allowance of Rs 30,000 for meetings within the country, except the AGM. When it comes to the AGM, the expenses are borne by the affiliated units.
Word is that neither the late Jagmohan Dalmiya nor Shashank Manohar, or Naryanswami Srinivasan, took any DA. All three occupied the Board's highest office.
Apparently, the controversial Lalit Kumar Modi would take his daily allowance, but donate the entire sum to an NGO. Well, nothing wrong there.
To Manohar goes the credit for putting an end to the scam which involved travelling by train for meetings, but still claiming business-class airline fare from the Board. The shocking practice (not that many actually took this shameless route) came to an end during his second innings as the president.
From then on, all tickets are directly booked by the Board and emailed to the recipients.
Manohar, it may be noted, is the International Cricket Council chairman.
Following in his father's footsteps, Avishek Dalmiya too doesn't take a rupee.
"For meetings, I just avail of the tickets which are emailed to me by the Board. Like my late father, I don't take the DA, not that I think it's a huge amount as one has to take care of all the expenses, including accommodation, which invariably is at a five-star hotel," Avishek said.
Avishek is joint-secretary of the Sourav Ganguly-headed Cricket Association of Bengal.
On trips overseas, the Board's office-bearers fly first class (which naturally comes at a heavy price tag) and get a daily allowance of an unbelievable $750. That's not all, as accommodation is directly booked by the Board on a B&B basis. Plus, a specified number of laundry pieces are complimentary.
So...
Rahul Johri, the Board's CEO, also travels first class and gets a DA of $500. As with the office-bearers, his accommodation too is booked by the Board.
Contrast $750 and $500 with $125, which the Virat Kohlis and the Mahendra Singh Dhonis get as their daily allowance.
Surely, the players won't be amused once they learn of this scandalous discrepancy, which effectively translates to them getting second-class treatment from the Board.
All along, Vinod Rai and his colleagues (now reduced to just Diana Edulji) had zero support within the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Not even among the more conscientious. That, however, has changed after Rai's Committee of Administrators (CoA) submitted its fifth status report to the Supreme Court, on Tuesday.
The timing and content are significant as the Supreme Court will, on Friday, again take up Board related matters.
Yes, yet again.
On Thursday, The Telegraph spoke to quite a few men closely associated with the Board and each one of them basically had three things to say.
Firstly, there was appreciation for Rai and Edulji enclosing annexures, which included the phenomenal amount spent on not only the Board's office-bearers, but their personal assistants as well.
Secondly, each one of them came across as extremely apprehensive about the Supreme Court's response to the latest report.
Thirdly, that as much as Rs 2,89,84,921 crore has been spent on acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary and treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry's travel and daily allowances, both within the country and overseas, is bound to further dent the Board's image.
The period taken into account is from April 2015 till June 2017.
Amitabh, of course, became the acting secretary in January (he'd been the joint-secretary from March 2015). Anirudh, on the other hand, has been the treasurer right through the period under scrutiny.
When the functions performed are in an honorary capacity, and much is made of that, the DA component obviously cannot go down well with the public at large.
"The loot is on... Now you know why there has been so much resistance to implementing the Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha committee's reforms," somebody who has represented an affiliated unit in the Board and served in a position of authority, told this Reporter.
That one comment, perhaps, reflects things perfectly.
It's not that everybody avails of the very generous daily allowance of Rs 30,000 for meetings within the country, except the AGM. When it comes to the AGM, the expenses are borne by the affiliated units.
Word is that neither the late Jagmohan Dalmiya nor Shashank Manohar, or Naryanswami Srinivasan, took any DA. All three occupied the Board's highest office.
Apparently, the controversial Lalit Kumar Modi would take his daily allowance, but donate the entire sum to an NGO. Well, nothing wrong there.
To Manohar goes the credit for putting an end to the scam which involved travelling by train for meetings, but still claiming business-class airline fare from the Board. The shocking practice (not that many actually took this shameless route) came to an end during his second innings as the president.
From then on, all tickets are directly booked by the Board and emailed to the recipients.
Manohar, it may be noted, is the International Cricket Council chairman.
Following in his father's footsteps, Avishek Dalmiya too doesn't take a rupee.
"For meetings, I just avail of the tickets which are emailed to me by the Board. Like my late father, I don't take the DA, not that I think it's a huge amount as one has to take care of all the expenses, including accommodation, which invariably is at a five-star hotel," Avishek said.
Avishek is joint-secretary of the Sourav Ganguly-headed Cricket Association of Bengal.
On trips overseas, the Board's office-bearers fly first class (which naturally comes at a heavy price tag) and get a daily allowance of an unbelievable $750. That's not all, as accommodation is directly booked by the Board on a B&B basis. Plus, a specified number of laundry pieces are complimentary.
So...
Rahul Johri, the Board's CEO, also travels first class and gets a DA of $500. As with the office-bearers, his accommodation too is booked by the Board.
Contrast $750 and $500 with $125, which the Virat Kohlis and the Mahendra Singh Dhonis get as their daily allowance.
Surely, the players won't be amused once they learn of this scandalous discrepancy, which effectively translates to them getting second-class treatment from the Board.
(Courtesy: The Telegraph)
