Sports Authority of Goa may cut aid to chess body
By Marcus Mergulhao, TNN
Jan 8, 2013, 02.31 AM IST
PANAJI: The complaints are piling. Day after day.
The Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) is set to act on complaints from members interested in joining the proposed taluka associations but controversially being kept out by the Goa Chess Association.
The exercise of forming taluka chess associations initiated by the state association has run into rough weather. A meeting was then called by sports minister Ramesh Tawadkar last month, but despite the assurances, the cold-shoulder continues.
“After the introduction of the Mormugao Taluka Chess Association, we approached the concerned person to make us all parents, members in order to serve Vasco chess players with more enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this proposal is rejected,” Anesh Parsekar, president of the Vasco SAG Chess Trainees — a group that has 40 members — wrote in a complaint to the sports minister.
Another complaint from Ganpat Kurtiker of Pansulem (Dharbandora) said that he “suspected that some section of people want to keep the GCA in their hands and ruin the upcoming future of chess in Goa.
Sanjay Barve, secretary, Taleigao Chess Association said in his complaint that he was denied the chance to become a founder member. “I went to ask for the membership form but the GCA secretary refused to give me the form without giving any reason,” he wrote in his complaint.
Another complain speaks of how minutes of a Bardez committee meeting were recorded differently, and despite assurances to the sports minister, were yet to be rectified.
The SAG has taken note of the complaints and is now set to cut all financial assistance to the chess association.
“We do not want the players to suffer so we will support the players directly. We will have no dealings with the association, just like what we do in hockey,” said a senior SAG official.
The SAG official said it was clear that the adhoc committees at the taluka level were “consisting of people who were handpicked by GCA officials.”
That’s sad.