Ex-VFI Assistant Secretary Vasavan Kunnappata yet to receive pending salary of more than INR 20 lakhs from Sports Ministry
Retired Assistant Secretary of the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) Vasavan Kunnappata hasn’t received his salary from the Sports Ministry for almost two years. He retired from the post in May last year following the absence of wages since July 2020.
The Assistant Secretary in any national sports federation is appointed once the ratification is done by the Sports Ministry, which pays the salary for people in the particular office. The role of the Assistant Secretary is demanding, right from being in touch with various government departments like the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to involvement in the process of team selection for both national and international competitions.
Vasavan Kunnappata, who was also deputed to IOA as its representative from July 2021 onwards, has a massive pending salary of ₹20,32, 576. The former VFI member if yet to seek a response from the Sports Ministry on this matter.
“After serving an organization for 36 years, going home empty-handed is an injustice to an employee. Kindly intervene and do the needful to release the outstanding salary,” Vasavan wrote to the Director General of SAI, as reported by Sportstar.
Vasavan further added that there aren’t any retirement financial schemes for the post of Assistant Secretary of any sports federation in the country. He demanded the Sports Ministry to quickly release his due amount.
“There are no other facilities like Provident Fund (PF), gratuity or pension for the Assistant Secretaries, serving the National Sports Federations. Since the employing authority is the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, it is the responsibility of the Ministry to release the salary of its employee,” he added.
What is the crux of Vasavan Kunnappata’s pending salary matter?
In June 2020, the Sports Ministry withdrew the recognition of many national sports federations, including VFI. Although Vasavan Kunnappata continued in the office of Assistant Secretary at the federation, the salary stopped since July 2020.
The SAI has a provision to utilise the services of the Assistant Secretary after the national federation is de-recognized and they can pay the salaries directly to the person. In October 2022, SAI stated in a letter, five months after Vasavan’s retirement, that they didn’t avail the services of the concerned official throughout the period.
For any work related to the VFI, Vasavan managed the cost of his traveling from his own pocket for the selection of teams for the FIVB World Championships. The Kannur-based residence has a huge amount of loans outstanding.