For Delhi Test, pass is passé
The fourth India versus South Africa Test will disappoint the capital’s famous complimentary pass-seekers. In a first, the High Court-appointed Justice (retired) Mukul Mudgal, the observer for the Test, has asked the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) to list the names of those to whom free entry is being given via complimentary passes for the Test starting on Thursday.
In addition, DDCA officials have also been advised not to issue ‘guest passes’ to their associates and friends. It is also being proposed that requests for complimentary passes from various government departments – from which the DDCA needs to receive clearances ahead of hosting a game – be entertained only if a representative signs on a receiving letter, which clearly states the number of passes being issued.
Ravinder Manchanda, DDCA treasurer said, “We want to make the process of issuing complimentary passes as transparent as possible.”
Justice Mudgal, himself, is setting an example. “IP Singh (former deputy comptroller and auditor general) and I have paid for our tickets so that we can set a benchmark. We have declined complimentary passes. In the past, I believe, the number of complimentary passes issued has created a controversy,” Justice Mudgal said.
Of the 10,000 complimentary passes, the DDCA can issue just over 4,000 to members of the association. The rest are issued to the directors/executive committee members. Previously there has been no account of to whom these passes are issued to by executive committee members.
However, even the presence of Justice Mudgal has not deterred DDCA officials from wrangling among themselves about the number of complimentary passes each of them are entitled to.
On Sunday, one of the executive committee members proposed that the number of complimentary passes issued to each director will be based on the number of proxy votes he gathered during the previous polls of the DDCA. This proposal – which was aimed at ensuring that a majority of the complimentary passes remained in the hands of a few influential officials – did not find favour with everyone and has resulted in a split house in the executive committee.
On Monday, DDCA joint secretary (corporate affairs) Dinesh Kumar Sharma raised the issue of irregularities in the distribution of complimentary passes.
“I would wish to draw your attention to one of the most glaring scams in DDCA, which is the distribution of complimentary passes amongst the few self-serving directors in the DDCA,” Sharma wrote in a letter submitted to justice Mudgal. “In every international match held at the Feroz Shah Kotla complimentary passes are distributed by DDCA without a transparent policy.”
Cheap, affordable tickets
While trying to streamline the process of distributing passes, Justice Mudgal has also tried to ensure that day-tickets are affordable. The paying public can buy tickets from Tuesday onwards from certain Café Coffee Day outlets, the Embassy Restaurant branches at Civil Lines and Connaught Place and at kiosks at Bal Bhawan and at JP Park near the Kotla Stadium. Season tickets are priced between Rs 250 and Rs 5,000, but day-tickets can be bought at one-fifth the price, Justice Mudgal said.
