The maintenance staff at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, including the all-important ground staff, have decided to go on ‘no pay, no work’ strike till all the dues are cleared by the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA).
The 100-odd staff headed by senior members G. Mallesh, J. Mallesh, K. Swamy and joint secretary Faheem say they have not been paid salary since January this year and all that they received after the last month’s Test match between India and Bangladesh was half a month’s salary.
“We are not being paid salary, leave alone bonus and other incentives. Even the cash incentive of ₹25 lakh given to the HCA for preparing the best wickets in the last edition of the IPL was not distributed till now and this year’s edition will begin early next month,” Mallesh informed The Hindu .
A staff delegation called on the HCA Secretary, K. John Manoj, at Gymkhana Ground to submit a letter demanding payment of all the dues.
Non-release of funds
“John sir says he is helpless as the BCCI has not released any funds till now. And only when the HCA gets money, payments can be made,” Mallesh said.
In a related development, the staff also informed the Uppal police about their move to go on ‘no pay, no work’ strike to pre-empt any drastic move by the top brass of HCA.
“We are planning a different strategy this time around to have a huge impact. Obviously, we will not be involved in any preparations for the IPL till our demands are met,” says Mallesh.
With the home team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, being the defending champions, the inaugural and the opening match of 2017 IPL are scheduled to be held here on April 5 and this is the worst scenario which the IPL franchisee would avoid at any cost in the run-up to the campaign to defend the title this season.
It may be recalled here that severe financial crisis has already hit the functioning of the HCA Academy at Gymkhana while Ranji players have not been paid any match fees (except TA & DA allowances) in the just-concluded season.
A senior HCA official admitted that the situation was grim and it was becoming difficult to run the show owing to fund crunch.
