In a tacit admission of its largesse in given membership to Club and Units that had little to do with Equestrian sport, the Equestrian Federation of India has decided to terminate the membership of 99 such organisations. Stung by criticism against its policy of granting membership policy, the EFI Executive Committee conducted an audit of all its members before making the decision.
At its meeting on February 26 last, the EFI Executive Committee agreed with the recommendation of the Audit Committee to terminate the membership of 32 Clubs and 67 Units/Institutions. And these 99 members were among the 286 Clubs, Units and Institutions that were subject to scrutiny – that translates to a ratio of more than one in three such members who came under the scanner.
Curiously, while the list of 99 members whose association with EFI will now be terminated has not yet been made public, it would be fair to mention that the Chetak Festival Samiti in Sangarkheda, Maharashtra, was among those identified to be brought under the guillotine. The body that organises a rural fair of horses was granted membership only on July 13, 2019.
The Audit Committee has also recommended that the membership of 27 Units/Institutions be transferred as Clubs and two Clubs to be shifted as Units/Institutions members. It will be of interest to peruse the list of 99 Clubs and Units whose membership has been terminated, even while several others may have escaped the proverbial Damocles’ Sword.
For the record, the Electoral College for the last EFI elections held in September 2019 included 139 Clubs, 134 Units/Institutions, 728 Life Members and 82 individual members. These included 17 Dog Units, several Transport Company Units, 20 Veterinary Hospitals and such with full voting rights.
Lt. Gen. PR Venkatesh, EFI Vice President (Vet), who chaired the meeting in the absence of an elected President, said the membership of such clubs and units which do not have any equestrian activities had been a sore point for a long time. EFI Secretary-General Jaiveer Singh said the Federation was not financially sound and needed the subscription of such members.
For all that, EFI continues to contravene the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 which envisages a National Sports Federation will granting voting rights only to State and Union Territories. Interestingly, the EFI Executive – with the Delhi High Court-appointed Observer SY Quraishi in attendance – granted membership to 10 individuals as Life Members and eight Clubs.
EFI leadership has determinedly ignore the directives of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Indian Olympic Association to set its house in order. For long, EFI has defied the Ministry’s directives to comply with the National Sports Code by, among other things, continuing to add new members instead of empowering the States and Union Territories’ Associations.
The list should be made public The federation can have individual members But with out voting Rights . It’s high time it falls in line with other sports federations and follows the sorts code which it has been avoiding on some pretext or the other .What is so peculiar about Equestrian sports .That the MYAS is giving it exemptions year after year .
Saw the list and it is surprising that some who do have equestrian facilities gave been put in the termination list. Some have escaped the list. This is a gimmick to show the high court that EFI is trying to follow it’s directives.