Cricket Association of Bengal announces payroll boost for Eden Gardens' groundsmen

Kolkata: The Eden Gardens groundsmen, who had threatened to commit suicide over payment issues about 10 years ago, will now be brought under payroll, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) said on Monday. The decision was announced a day after the Eden Gardens was adjudged the best ground in IPL 11 closing ceremony in Mumbai on Sunday night. [caption id=“attachment_3412722” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. AFP[/caption] “Taking their performances into consideration, the association has approved to take them under the payroll as per the norms,” CAB joint-secretary Avishek Dalmiya told reporters after its working committee meeting in Kolkata. “They will get salary as per their package. It will be more than that but definitely not less. This will also give them a lot of relief. Future security is important for one and all. Everyone wants their job to be secured. The approval has been made now we will make it effective.” It was only after the inaugural edition of the IPL, about 20 groundstaff who were then under the payroll of a private company had threatened to take some extreme step like committing suicide, something the CAB had then dismissed as impractical. “For a long time, they had put forward requests to make them permanent. Of course, they have made us proud,” Avishek said. The CAB will also include the groundsmen employed at its Jadavpur University Second Campus ground in Saltlake as well as the security men. “We can’t give exact number as of now because we don’t want anyone to be left out. Everybody should be given secured feeling while working for the association,” Avishek said. An elated CAB chief curator Sujan Mukherjee said they deserved it thoroughly. “We have got the best ground award for the second year in a row. With this, they will enjoy benefits like gratuity, medical facility. They have been very hardworking and they deserved it,” Mukherjee said. The CAB further said that they have kept aside an amount of about Rs 20 crore for their upcoming stadium and facility at Dumurjala in Howrah, the land for which has been sanctioned by the West Bengal government. “We are very thankful to the state government. Let the formal letter come then the detailing will be worked out subject to the area,” Avishek said. The CAB will also revamp its indoor facility at the Eden Gardens and has kept aside a budget of about Rs 3 crore.