Rai’s response to RTI: BCCI transparent, professional
NEW DELHI: A day after the Central Information Commission (CIC) brought the Indian cricket board (BCCI) under the Right To Information (RTI) Act and asked it to register itself as a National Sports Federation (NSF), the BCCI is set to challenge the ruling.
The CIC has directed the BCCI to put in place online and offline mechanisms, within 15 days, to receive applications for information under the RTI Act.
It has been learnt that the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators may question the ambit of the ruling. The Board had made a representation at the July 10 CIC hearing in which it explained why RTI was not enforceable on the cricket Board.
MAKING AN EFFORT
COA head Vinod Rai has issued a statement saying the Board has already made an effort to bring transparency by putting important information and matters related to finance on its website. The BCCI strongly feels that issues like team selections and choice of coach cannot be subjected to public scrutiny.
“In continuance of the CIC order, we would like to convey that we wholeheartedly support transparency and have created a robust platform in the form of the website.
“Through this medium, we have been putting our processes and decisions out in public domain,” Rai said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Our website is becoming more vibrant with increased emphasis on openness and accountability. The COA is committed to probity and openness in the BCCI and have introduced good governance with professional administration.
“Lastly, I am passionate and totally dedicated to set up an edifice of good governance which will be premised on probity, transparency and ethical standards,” he concluded.
NO GRANTS FROM GOVT
The Indian board has for long avoided coming under the RTI Act and becoming an NSF saying that it does not receive any grants from the government unlike other sports federations. However, the CIC has been wanting that BCCI come under the Act because it holds monopoly over the conduct of cricket in the country.
The COA is currently busy implementing the new BCCI constitution that was approved by the Supreme Court on August 9, 2018.
Constructed on the tenets of good governance, the new rule book, once adopted by all members will then roll out a process of election of a new set of Board officials. Adoption of RTI Act is not in the scope of Coa’s work. It needs clearance of the general body.