Sacked BCCI staff, selectors cry foul over pending dues

relocatetoanotherhotelintheheartofthecapital. Apart from the security reasons, the move would also cut down on the travel time. "The drive from Dwarka to the Kotla will easily take more than an hour. The toss will take place at 8.30 am, so, we will have to reach the ground atleast an hour earlier. So, shifting to a hotel in Connaught Place makes sense," Singh added. PEEVED AT the non-payment of salary and/or compensation, the sacked BCCI selectors and employees have written to the cricket board, asking for the disbursement of dues. The removed selectors weren’t given formal termination letters either, preventing them from taking up another job.

On January 14, former India Test player Ashish Kapoor was informed through a letter from BCCI general manager, administration, Ratnakar Shetty that the junior selection committee had been pruned from five to three as per the Lodha Committee recommendations.

Kapoor didn’t feature in the new list, along with Amit Sharma. Ahead of the ongoing series against Australia, a TV channel offered the ex-india offie Kapoor, who played four Tests and 17 ODIS, a position on their panel of experts. But Kapoor couldn’t accept the offer because he didn’t have a formal termination letter from the BCCI.

“The BCCI contract prohibits selectors to be part of any media activity. So without a termination letter Kapoor can’t join a TV channel, for in that case his ex-employer might raise (legal) questions. Kapoor has written a letter to BCCI CEO, Rahul Johri, seeking clarification over his eligibility to do media activities even without a termination letter. The selectors haven’t been compensated for loss of employment. They are basically surviving on their savings. So, the letter has sought a status update on the whole thing,” a source told this paper.

The junior selectors are paid Rs 40 lakh each annually. The senior team selectors get Rs 60 lakh each per year.

The sacked selectors demand compensation because their contract was from September 21, 2016 to the next Annual General Meeting. “There’s no exit clause in the contract and the selectors should be compensated for rest of their contract,” said the source.

As for the senior selection committee, Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda were removed for not being Test cricketers, failing to meet the requirements set by the Lodha panel. Women selectors Anjali Pednekar and Sudha Shah fell prey to the process of regeneration as well. It is learnt that they have written to the BCCI, demanding compensation.

Six BCCI employees, and some office boys, were fired on February 6. As per the contract, they are entitled to their three months salary as compensation.

‘Unprofessional attitude’

The dues haven’t been cleared yet and one of them, a staff member of former BCCI president Anurag Thakur, laid into the cricket board, accusing the present management of “unprofessional attitude”.

In an email addressed to the BCCI’S chief financial officer (CFO) Santosh Rangnekar, dated March 15 and accessed by The Indian Express, the sacked employee wrote: “You were in tearing hurry to ask me about investment proofs for which you also called me several times. On one call, it appeared to me that you were literally shouting on me. Though I kept quiet in the hope that dues would be cleared soon having submitted my investment proofs. Now it’s over a month since the termination, I along with my colleagues are still waiting for our dues to be cleared by BCCI”.

The mail has also pointed out some disparities and asked for the payment of (T20) World Cup salaries. “Further, since Mr Nishant Arora (former BCCI media manager) resigned simultaneously why were his dues cleared in about one week and our final settlement is still pending? (Also) we are yet to receive any official communication regarding our World Cup salaries,” it said.

According to the source, the COA will have a meeting regarding cricket matters in two-three days, where the issues of non-payment might be discussed.