New Delhi: The BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary Friday launched a scathing attack on Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai, terming him a ‘complete failure’ in the implementation of the Supreme Court-mandated Lodha Committee reforms.
The BCCI office-bearers, especially Choudhary and treasurer Aniruddh Chaudhry, have been sidelined by the COA, which even sought their termination from the Supreme Court.
“The unfortunate fact that I conclude is that after one and half years, Mr Rai has realised apart from writing e-mails, he has not been able to do anything else. He was mandated to implement the reforms and he has been a complete failure,” the former Additional Director General of Police (Jharkhand) told this agency in an interview.
“Rai is trying to run down the office-bearers because he has failed to engage them in a positive manner despite having spent one and half years which was mostly spent in making appointments in opaque processes, which I brought to everyone’s notice,” he said referring the appointments of Anti Corruption Unit (ACU) Chief Ajit Singh and GM (marketing) Priya Gupta.
The former CAG has recently expressed his frustration about the long time taken by the Supreme Court to pass the final order on the constitutional reform.
“How can anyone talk about the Supreme Court in such a manner? Least of all, someone who has spent over four decades in the government,” Choudhary said.
When asked about whether he thinks that recent comments by Rai about the delay amount to Contempt of Court, Choudhary replied: “I can’t take a view on that as I am not court.”
Choudhary also found the comparison between the daily allowances given to the players and the office-bearers as deeply insulting. While office-bearers get USD 750 per day, the Indian team gets USD 250, which according to Rai, is one of the reasons for ‘vested interests’.
“I have two simple counter questions. Are our TA/DAs in accordance with rules that are there in BCCI? If they are so be it. Now my second counter: If you are comparing our allowances to those of players, you are conveniently forgetting that they are getting match fees along with annual central contract. So Rai’s comparisons are blatantly unfair.
“You expect an honorary person to travel somewhere spending money from his own pocket. Check the fourth Status Report what DA I was drawing then and what is it now.”
Choudhary also stated that the state association members should not be considered as servants and their grievances should be addressed.
“You can’t blame members for feeling aggrieved. It is the same members, who agreed on most reforms. They are not your servants, at best they are colleagues or friends,” Choudhary concluded.