Given six months to implement the Lodha Committee recommendations by the Supreme Court exactly one year ago, the BCCI has been dragging its feet over the new constitution and reforms. The following is a status report of 10 major recommendations culled from the Lodha Committee report.
The appointment of Rahul Johri as CEO was one of the steps the BCCI took towards inducting a professional management, but the powers given to the management vis-a-vis the office-bearers is still a contentious issue © Sajjad Hussain/AFP
One-state-one-vote
Lodha Committee recommendation: Each state association, including new members, must have equal representation and voting rights. This would reduce the multiple votes of, for example, states like Maharashtra and Gujarat to two from the existing six (Maharashtra, Mumbai, Vidarbha, Gujarat, Saurashtra and Baroda). All new members will be given associate status and will have no voting rights.
Status: BCCI has asked the court to reconsider this reform. It wants to stick to the existing full members and their rights while welcoming the new members.
Apex Council
Lodha Committee recommendation: A nine-member body to replace the existing 14-member working committee of the BCCI. The Apex Council will consist of five BCCI office-bearers (president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer), two members nominated by the Players’ Association (one male, one female), one member to be elected by the full members of the BCCI from among themselves, and another to be nominated by the Comptroller & Auditor General of India.
Status: The BCCI has agreed, but the Apex Council can only take effect once the BCCI elections are held and the Players’ Association formed.
Cooling-off period for office-bearers
Lodha Committee recommendation: The maximum term of an office-bearer will be three years. A maximum of three such terms can be undertaken by the office-bearer, but with a cooling-off period of three years after each such term.
Status: BCCI wants the cooling-off period removed with an aggregate tenure of nine years.
Age cap of 70
Lodha Committee recommendation: No office-bearer can be eligible if he is over 70 years old.
Status: Having initially and consistently objected to this reform, the BCCI has finally agreed to fall in line with it. But they don’t want the age restriction to apply to state representatives attending BCCI meetings or members of any of the board’s committees.
Composition of the selection committee
Lodha Committee recommendation: Reduce it to three members from five. A compact panel, went the reasoning, will provide it more authority. Also with a cricket talent committee in place, there was no need for a five-member committee.
Status: The BCCI agreed, reluctantly, and reduced the panel to three members.
Niranjan Shah was one of the administrators disqualified as an office-bearer on grounds of being over 70 years old and exceeding the tenure cap. However, Shah has attended BCCI meetings as a representative of the Saurashtra Cricket Association © Getty Images
Players’ Association
Lodha Committee recommendation: An independent players’ body called the Cricket Players’ Association, comprising retired players, should be formed and funded by the BCCI. The Lodha Committee had identified four people (Anil Kumble, Mohinder Amarnath, Diana Edulji and fomer civil servant GK Pillai) to be part of a founding steering committee to bring the association into effect. Kumble and Edulji recused themselves, while Amarnath quit the committee due to commentary assignments.
Status: The BCCI has accepted this reform, but no concrete steps have yet been taken.
Introduction of professional management
Lodha Committee recommendation: The committee recommended hiring professionals, and not honorary office-bearers, to take over the running of the game and oversee daily administration. The recommendation was for a CEO to helm a team of managers to handle non-cricketing matters. Cricketing affairs, it was suggested, should be monitored by a committee that oversees selection, coaching and performance evaluation and talent resource development, and should only include former players. The many sub-committees of the BCCI should be reduced to two (a senior tournaments committee, and the tours, fixtures & technical committee). The CEO, who can be contracted for five years, is to be accountable to the Apex Council.
Status: Although the BCCI has created a corporate structure by appointing a CEO, a chief financial officer and host of managers, it wants the court to reconsider the overall remit of the management vis-à-vis office-bearers. The BCCI wants office-bearers to retain decision-making powers in both cricketing and the non-cricketing matters, and not let the CEO take precedence.
Dual posts
Lodha Committee recommendation: To avoid conflicts of interest, the committee prohibited a BCCI office-bearer from concurrently holding an administrative post at the state association. The committee made it clear that an office-bearer at a state association could attend BCCI meetings only as a representative.
Status: The BCCI has accepted this reform.
Conflict of Interest
Lodha Committee recommendation: A detailed policy should be laid down explaining all types of conflict: direct or indirect, pecuniary or other conflicts of interest or appearance thereof.
Status: Although the BCCI put out a skeletal conflict of interest document on its website, a detailed policy has not yet been put into practice. Importantly, there is no governing authority to deal with the conflict.
Appointment of ombudsman, ethics officer and electoral officer
Lodha Committee recommendation: An ombudsman is important “to resolve internal conflicts independent of the BCCI.” The ethics officer would “administer the principles governing conflict of interest“. The electoral officer would ensure that the “process” of selecting the office-bearers is clean and transparent. Status: All three positions are vacant.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo