Rich DDCA does not need tax exemption.

TWO days before Ferozeshah Kotla hosts its first ever day- night One- day International ( ODI), the Delhi and District Cricket Association ( DDCA) was desperately looking to set many things in order to make the occasion a memorable one.

Even as the DDCA officials battled issues ahead of the 15th ODI at the Kotla, the Indian and Australian teams arrived in the city from Nagpur, where Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side defeated Ricky Ponting's team by 99 runs in the second ODI to level the seven- match series 1- 1.

The teams took a day off and will practice on Friday.

In a ' first', the DDCA did not apply for entertainment tax exemption as there is no dearth of money with the association, said a member of its executive committee. Confirming that the DDCA had not applied for tax exemption, government nominee Vibhakar Shastri told Mail Today: " They ( DDCA) are making so much money, that they did not go for the tax exemption. Also, Delhi government needs money." As Shastri, one of the three government nominees on the 34- member executive committee, said money is indeed not a problem for DDCA as well as the other 29 associations affiliated with the board. For instance, an association gets Rs 50 crore as infrastructure subsidy and crores more as share of television rights money every year. " When we have so much money, why should we chase government officials for tax exemption?" said an executive committee member.

Tickets that have been printed and despatched to the homes of 4,200 DDCA members bear the amount of tax levied on each one. " The ticket that I have got is of a Rs. 100 denomination and it has Rs. 13 as entertainment tax and Rs 87 is admission fee," said a member. " I can't recall another occasion when an international match, whether a Test match or an ODI, was played at the Kotla with DDCA not securing tax exemption. In fact, every time the government would threaten not to give tax exemption, DDCA would go to any extent to get it," he recalled.

Another ' first' for the DDCA is that the onedayer would be held without an organising committee in place. " A six- member committee that has been formed by the executive will act as the organising committee too as it has been authorised to take decisions," said an executive member. This panel, headed by DDCA president Arun Jaitley, includes Suresh Chopra, Chetan Chauhan, CK Khanna, SP Bansal and NK Batra.

What has baffled many DDCA members is that no executive committee meeting has taken place for almost five months. " The last meeting was held on June 7, and after that we haven't met," said the official. " As per rules, we should meet at least once in three months." Going by that stipulation, the executive, headed by Jaitley, should have met on or before September 7.

That the Kotla was going to host an ODI was another valid reason for the executive to meet. " As per established practice, the executive used to meet one month before a Test match or ODI," the official said.

Another practice that has been done away with is making the Lt. Governor of Delhi or the chief minister as chairman of this organising committee.

" When you don't have even an organising committee in place, what will the Lt. Governor head? It all has got to do with the game's commercialisation due to which fine traditions like this have been dumped," rued a veteran DDCA member.

Giving a tongue- in- cheek example of the ' mess', he said that on Thursday DDCA got a ' new' president in ' Ashwin Ramaswamy', a name that a notice board at Kotla displayed under DDCA president's ' all access' match pass.

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