Mumbai: When Shashank Manohar made his way to address his maiden press conference after being appointed BCCI president for a second time, he was still getting congratulatory messages.
About fifteen minutes after assuming office, the lawyer from Nagpur, who does not carry a mobile phone, announced a slew of reforms that would give the Board a thorough rinse and an administrative makeover.
Elected unopposed at the SGM here on Sunday, Manohar wasted no time in admitting that Board’s reputation had taken a hit. “In the last few days the confidence of the cricket loving fans has shaken due to certain unpleasant things that have happened. Leaving them aside it is now the duty of all the members of the Board to build the reputation of this Board and enhance it,” he said.
Asking for a one-month time frame, Manohar said the issue of conflict of interest would be addressed.
“The Board would frame regulations with regards to conflict of interest of administrators, players and their staff. That would be done in about a month’s time.”
In a major move, Manohar said that an ethics officer would be appointed to deal with any complains. “The Board would also appoint an ombudsman or an ethics officer who would be independent of this Board and who would look into the complaints as with regards to conflict of interest of the administrators, players or the staff.”
The 58-year-old top official said that players would continued to be educated on corruption and the Board was looking to seek help from the central government. “With the help of the secretary (Anurag Thakur) who is a sitting member of parliament, we would like to sit with the government officials to see and work out if we can get certain investigative agencies.
“The Board does not have any investigative powers and therefore our hands are tied. This will help rule out the corruption in the game.”
While adding that records of the Board would be made available at the BCCI headquarters here for the members to check, Manohar emphatically stated that BCCI wouldn’t come under RTI’s ambit.
“Under Article 12 of the (Indian) Constitution, we are not a state, (but) our functions are akin to a state. That’s why the Supreme Court has held that we are performing a public deed. We are a private body though performing a public deed and therefore each and every activity of the Board need not be disclosed to the whole world. As I said transparency means transparency in functioning of the Board. “But we will not come under the RTI because law cannot apply to one institution. RTI is an Act,” he added.
