New Railways cricketers’ body is for welfare of players: Secretary

By Qaiser Mohammad Ali New Delhi, Dec 11 : The newly formed Indian Railways Cricketers’ Association (IRCA) — the first of its kind in the history Indian Railways — is only for the welfare of retired railways players who, in the past, did not earn as much as the present generation, and the association will always be part of the railways family, IRCA secretary Sampathkumar Srinivasan said.
A former Railways pacer, Srinivasan stressed that he and IRCA president Kishore Kumar Sharma, a former fast bowler, would have discussed with officials of the Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) before their December 7 announcement of formation the association, but for Covid pandemic and the farmers’ agitation on Delhi’s borders.
“We are 100 per cent sure, we will not go against RSPB. We are getting everything from the Railways — our bread and butter and pension etc — so we’ll not go against them. We have formed this association to take care of our former cricketers — like, former Railways coaches, selectors. We are not doing anything against the Railways or the RSPB; IRCA is only a welfare association for retired players,” Srinivasan told IANS.
The IRCA has obtained a certificate of registration from the Tamil Nadu Societies registration Act, 1975 (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1975), Chennai, under Section 10, on December 1. At present, it has only seven members, but it plans to go on a membership drive in the near future.
In a letter sent to the RSPB secretary Prem Chand Lochab recently, IRCA president Sharma informed him about the formation of the association, and also requested him to nominate Srinivasan to attend the general body meetings of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). A BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) is coming up on December 24.
Srinivasan said that Railways coaches and other support staff of the various teams do not receive anything extra for their work, except TA/DA, unlike the other state cricket associations that pay handsome amounts to members of coaching/support staff.