BCCI to focus on North-Eastern Indian cities after Supreme Court rap

The Board of Cricket for Control in India(BCCI) have jolted into work, having been lashed at by Supreme Court for neglecting the North-Eastern cities. The Supreme Court blasted BCCI for their parity in payments to different member association boards, with just Rs 50 lakhs being paid to state bodies of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. Since then, BCCI have formed a New Area Development Committee, whose chairman is Abhishek Dalmiya and convenor is current BCCI secretary, Anurag Thakur. Also in a move to show their intent, they announced Meghalaya Cricket Association joint-secretary Naba Bhattacharya as the co-ordinator. The committee will work on developing the game in all parts of the country. ALSO READ: BCCI has done nothing to develop cricket in India, says Supreme Court

Speaking on the issue of low payments to North-Eastern cities, Nagaland Cricket Association Joint-Secretary Ahidur Rahman said,”They were supposed to pay us regularly. But, we haven’t received any funds after 2009,” reported Times of India.

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Many have lamented this decision, saying it’s come ‘late’. Speaking on this issue, Abhishek Dalmiya told Express,”We were discussing the issue for long. We want to spread the game to all parts of the country. We want to keep an pan-Indian approach.”

Earlier, the Supreme Court on Tuesday alleged that Board Of Control For Cricket In India (BCCI) did nothing for the development of cricket. This stinging criticism came after BCCI informed there was no allocation of funds to eleven states. The Supreme court had also asked BCCI to list the graph detailing the distribution of funds in the last five years. Bench captained by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur had said, “You (BCCI) have allocated Rs 480 crore in one year to state cricket associations for the development of cricketing infrastructure. In the past 20 years, more than Rs 2000 crore have been given approximately. Have you monitored these funds as how it is being utilized.