Moves afoot to again extend aid to umpires, scorers in distress
Through their WhatsApp group, 80-umpires and scorers of the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association chose to help their colleagues when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country and it went into complete lockdown last year.
About six-seven members of the group came forward to extend assistance of Rs 3000 to Rs 5000 each (around Rs 75,000) to 12 colleagues. “Everyone was asked to send his request for help to me personally as people didn’t want to let others know. We, the group members, came forward in their support,” UPCA’s umpires and scorers’ committee chairman Manoj Pundir said on Monday.
“Things aren’t good this time as no domestic cricket is happening due to the pandemic. We will again try to help the members, if someone places his or her demand before me,” he added.
The Ghaziabad Cricket Association and the Meerut Cricket Association, too, have supported umpires and scorers in the corona crisis. Among all 38 units of UPCA, Cricket Association Lucknow (CAL) has turned out to be among the most generous, extending financial help en masse.
As the nationwide lockdown came into force in the last week of March 2020, CAL extended help of Rs 2500 (per month) to 23 umpires and colleagues and this continued for two months.
“Once the rainy season was over, matches started taking place in the city and things were near perfect in winter. But the situation is now very bad and unlikely to settle soon,” CAL joint secretary Vikas Pandey said on Monday.
CAL secretary, KM Khan, while confirming the help given to scorers and umpires last year, said that this time too he had asked the people concerned within the CAL to prepare a list of such umpires and scorers who are in need of financial assistance.
“Have asked the people concerned to enquire about such people and make a list so that we could extend them financial support too,” said Khan.
But sources within the CAL confirmed that a proposal for financial help of Rs 5000 per month had been sent for approval to the top authorities. “If all goes well, such people will start getting Rs 5000 per month from April onwards till the crisis continues,” said a CAL insider.
Last week, UPCA announced one-time financial help to its former cricketers and also to umpires and scorers. The move has put pressure on the district units to extend financial help to umpires and scorers at least in this crisis situation.
“All the district units (even if they are not doing any development of the game) get Rs 2 lakh every year and that’s good money for them to extend financial help to such umpires and scorers, who are struggling to make ends meet,” said an UPCA official on condition of anonymity.
“Districts like Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Ghaziabad and few others get Rs 5 lakh every year as they have been undertaking a lot of cricket activities. They can give a token amount to their umpires and scorers who are really in need now,” he said, adding, “They can even seek help from UPCA in this regard.’
“If UPCA wants, they can extend one-time help of Rs 10,000 each to such umpires and scorers in this crisis,” he said. “The international cricketers of the state too should come forward in support of such technical experts who are in need of financial support.”