The Kerala Race Boat Owners Association, an organisation of snakeboat owners, has alleged that the Nehru Trophy Boat Race committee is pursuing a policy of neglect towards boats other than ‘chundans’.
The association will organise a dharna in front of the Collectorate on Friday and submit a charter of demands to the organisers. The organisation has threatened to boycott the race if the demands are not met.
Of the 66 boats that participated in last year’s Nehru trophy boat race, 41 belonged to non-chundan categories such as veppu, odi, churulan , and thekkanodi , association president Oommen Mathew said.
The smaller boats needed rigorous practice similar to that of the chundans . The number of rowers on each boat varied from 25 to 60 while the chundans had 75 to 90 rowers.
He said there was serious discrimination against the smaller boats in terms of distribution of grant and bonus. While the veppu and odi ‘A’ grade boats were eligible for a maximum of ₹1.10 lakh as bonus, the chundans were getting a minimum of ₹1.75 lakh, which could go up to ₹5 lakh if they participated in the finals.
The association demanded that the bonus be given in proportion to the number of rowers, irrespective of the category of the boat.
Afternoon slot sought
It is also opposed to the practice of conducting the race of the smaller boats in the forenoon, without much viewers or telecast of the race. The races in all categories should be conducted in the afternoon, secretary Punnose Joseph said.
He said the association representatives should be included on the race committees and the general body constituted by the authorities.
The committees had a large number of representatives of political parties who had little knowledge on matters pertaining to the race. Instead, knowledgeable members from the association should be included on the committees, he said.
