DDCA President Rohan Jaitley promises voting rights, support to League clubs

The Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley, who was recently re-elected to the top post following a 12-0 sweep (by his group) in the elections, has announced that he is ready to extend support to the clubs and provide them with voting rights.

The League clubs have been demanding voting rights in the elections as well as an increase in subsidy. The DDCA offers voting rights only to its about 3,700 individual members alive which is unlike many state associations where clubs and districts have the voting rights.

“We will give voting rights to clubs as per due process and procedure,” said Jaitley in the post-victory press conference on Tuesday.

TV Subramaniam of the Pelican Club, who had filed a petition (Interlocutory Application) in Supreme Court demanding voting rights in 2019, says that the Delhi High Court has asked them to approach the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal) for this.

The HC order came just a couple of months ago.

“We are still deliberating what we have to do.”

The clubs in the meanwhile have already been assured an annual subsidy of Rs 2 lakh which is what was announced by Jaitley.

“Club funding will be enhanced but subject to accountability. We are ready to bear the expenses and not give hard cash necessarily. Subsidy and refreshment is already been given,” added Jaitley.

Subramaniam says even if they can give support in kind, it will be fine.

“To run a club is very expensive. Many of the clubs like ours don’t have space to practice. So we have to pay for the nets. The cost comes to Rs 30,000 a month if we have a weekly net session with 3-4 nets. If they can provide space and kit for practice, that will help,” he tells www.thedelhijunction.com

Gurpreet Sareen, who fought for the Treasurer’s post but lost to Harish Singla, says that he had pushed for a subsidy of Rs 5 lakh per year as member of the League Committee last year.

“I had verbally requested them (DDCA Apex Council) to raise the subsidy to Rs 5 lakh,” Sareen had told www.thedelhijunction.com

There are 80 clubs (non-institutional) that get subsidy and if they get Rs 5 lakh each, the expenditure to the exchequer will amount to only Rs 4 crore which is not much considering the amount DDCA gets from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

At the moment, each club is getting Rs 1 lakh a year which is, it is being alleged, forcing many of them to demand money from the players.

In 2021-22, each of the clubs got a pending amount of around Rs 3.5 lakh. However, in a letter to Jaitley, Subramaniam had complained that the demand for raising subsidy had fallen on deaf ears.

Tags : Delhi cricket, DDCA, Rohan Jaitley, DDCA League, National Company Law Tribunal, Delhi High Court, Supreme Court