While there appears to be a sense of anguish among office-bearers in the BCCI and State associations following the explainers given by the Lodha Committee, they are also hurt at the clarification that the managing committee members can contest for the post of office-bearers in the State associations.
One of the questions in the second set of FAQ was: “Will a member of the Governing Body, Managing Committee or Working Committee of a State/Member Association who has never been an office-bearer also have the 9 year disqualification period apply to him?”
The response was: “Such an individual is eligible to contest an office-bearer post, unless the constitution or bye-laws of the association defines office bearers to include the governing body / managing committee / working committee members.’’
The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) while incorporating the Lodha Committee recommendations on September 30,2016 amended its by-laws in such a way that anyone elected as office–bearers or managing committee members will not have more than three-terms of three years each.
At last year’s VCA elections, held as per the Lodha recommendations, the members elected a president, vice-president, secretary, jt. secretary and treasurer, five executive committee members, one executive member from Clubs and a male and female representative. Three members each were also elected to the senior men, junior and women’s selection committees.
The VCA has so far not received any response from the State Accountant General’s Office.
“It’s better to have a small committee, so that they can be easily replaced after every three years. From the governance point of view, it’s good to have a small committee,’’ said a former office-bearer of VCA.
A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) office bearer said: “The FAQ explainer is very clear: office-bearers who complete nine years have no more place in the administration, but those who have completed nine years as managing committee members, can contest for office-bearer’s post. This is not fair to us. This anomaly needs to be addressed by the Lodha Committee. Even the managing committee members have to be given a maximum of nine years with cooling off breaks.’’
