A day after Joaquim Carvalho, who is fighting for the secretary's post, told this paper that the present set-up has done little to develop hockey in the city over the last three years, the current secretary, Ram Singh Rathor, came out with a counter.
With the battle for the Mumbai Hockey Association (MHA) elections on August 12 heating up, the current set-up has hit back at allegations from its rival group.
A day after Joaquim Carvalho, who is fighting for the secretary's post, told this paper that the present set-up has done little to develop hockey in the city over the last three years, the current secretary, Ram Singh Rathor, came out with a counter.
"There are three parameters that show the work we've done during our term," Rathor said. "First, we have had nine players from Mumbai who have either played for India or participated in the national camp in our term. In the previous term headed by Gurbax (Singh Grewal), there were only two."
Gurbax is again fighting for the president's post this time.
Rathor added: "Second, we sent 18 teams from the city to various national tournaments in the past three years. In the previous term, only five were sent. And lastly, we have given memberships to 14 former players and internationals while they had given to none during their time. So, on what basis are they saying that we have done nothing? We have all the facts to show our work."
Rathor said the same set of people who are fighting the elections had asked the state government to cancel the lease of MHA when they met the then deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in July 2012. The government order dated October 17, 2012, a copy of which is with dna, confirmed the meeting of Pawar with the "various Olympians and international hockey players". The lease was subsequently cancelled.
President Mangha Singh Bakshi added: "These very people want to develop hockey now. They tried to harm the organisation and finish hockey when they were not in power. No person can be bigger than the institution."
According to Rathor, the MHA made a net profit of Rs43 lakh in 2014-15, the highest in the history of the organisation. Rathor also highlighted how they had given importance to developing the game at the grassroots.
"During their term, they used to rent out of the MHA turf to schools and clubs for Rs 3,300 per match or a practice session. We brought it down to Rs 2,100. We have also successfully conducted all national leagues including Super League and Gold Cup in the past three years. I challenge them to counter these facts," Rathor said.
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