There is uncertainty as to when the Bangalore Turf Club can commence its truncated summer season. Though it was not officially given out to the professionals, a draft prospectus was in wide circulation all over India, with the season slated to commence on July 18, with the dates of classic races also mentioned. One doesn`t know how it was released, whether it was official and how some of the committee members themselves were circulating it when there was no clarity in the first place whether there would be government permission forthcoming.

Possibly the club wanted to give hope to the despairing racehorse owners who have been left to fend for themselves. In situations like the one faced due to the Pandemic; institutions provide subsidies/loans to tide over the crisis. But in BTC, the reverse is happening. The BTC authorities, in their wisdom, want to disrupt the smooth functioning of the system of payment of salaries to the syces by stopping the Basic Maintenance Fee to the trainers which is a credit extended for two months. In the absence of BMC, there would be salary default to the syces by many trainers which would only lead to labour unrest for which the club would be held responsible. Does anybody in their right thinking would create a crisis in a world thrown upside down by the Pandemic or try to alleviate the burden by providing help? The BTC mandarins are never known to keep their heads in the right place.

The issue of Basic Maintenance Fee (BMC) has been hanging fire with the club mandarins flip-flopping on its decision. After threatening to completely stop it, the club has reportedly decided to offer it for one more month. The system of providing BMC credit to the trainers has been going on for more than three decades and there was no need to revisit it whatever the provocation or compulsions at this point in time.

The club is forcing an issue when the solution is beyond its capability. The move, it seems, has been triggered by some of the influential members of the club who have held the Managing Committee hostage by forcing their whimsical decisions as a command to the ruling body. Recently, one of the vets was asked to resign after it was conclusively proved that he was also working for some other organization taking salary/service charge or whatever you call it, by cheque against the service conditions. However, the vet was reportedly in the good books of the powerful groups possibly because he had been lending free veterinary care to these worthies. Despite breaking the service rules, the Managing Committee, under pressure, did not accept his resignation. The committee was forced to give salary for more than five months for the period that the Vet did not work to the tune of about Rs 7 lakhs despite the club professing financial crisis. The quixotic club wants to cut corners only in areas when the spending is absolutely essential.

The Principal Finance Secretary I N S Prasad who has been holding that position for a long time has been very helpful to the club and had bailed out the club from the crisis brought about by the shenanigans of the authorities. He had helped obtain online betting permission last year but the club lost it as one of the ex-staff members of the club who had been unfairly treated put a Public Interest Litigation about online betting. The Court raised many queries and the government promptly withdrew the permission. BTC was the first to get the license for online betting and also lost it in record time even before the operations could be put in place.

On the basis of the permission obtained by the BTC, the other turf clubs in India were successful in getting permission from their respective governments and the operations are going on in these clubs smoothly. BTC lost only because somebody went to court because he was wronged by the club. There is a huge list of people who don`t wish the club well because of the arrogance and improper actions of the club mandarins. The writ petition filed by CUPA which is pending adjudication has also pushed BTC to a corner.

The Karnataka High Court had asked the government to spell out its stand on online betting and accordingly the process of getting it placed before the Cabinet and then getting the nod in the Legislature was in motion. The BTC Mandarins perhaps thought that they could bypass the procedure by going for an ill-advised adventure of meeting the Chief Minister for grant of online betting permission. Chief Minister Yeddyurappa who was miffed at the huge rental arrears that the club had built up and the repeated complaints that he was receiving reportedly dismissed the Managing Committee members with a terse order to clear the arrears before any other issue could be taken up. The BTC offered to pay Rs 2 crores in advance and promised to pay the remaining Rs 10 Crores in equal monthly instalments once racing resumed.

The BTC Mandarins thus appeared to have messed up things. The license to conduct racing would have come in normal course when the Covid restrictions were eased. We have to wait and see whether the rent arrears will become a thorn. According to the Public Accounts Committee, the arrears of rent runs to around Rs 32 crores while the balance sheet of the BTC puts it at Rs 12 crores. The government has fixed two per cent of the gross income as the rent and it would have been easy to calculate the amount and deposit it each year instead of building up the arrears. There are also arrears claims of Rs 8 crores from the Corporation (BBMP).

The Bangalore Turf Club is functioning without a secretary or a Company Secretary for several months. Many of those who were appointed did not join after coming to know about the highly politicized working environment.