‘I don’t merit this reward’

Vilas Godbole the former Mumbai Cricket Association MCA secretary has informed the association that he will not accept the Rs 10 lakh cheque that has been reserved for him as an honour for being the only surviving member of the 197475 MCA managing committee The reward was decided upon by the current administration as part of Wankhede Stadiumrsquos 50th anniversary In a letter sent to the MCA dated February 3 Godbole also requested the Association to consider his pension to be paid with retrospective effect from 2006 Godbole qualified for pension as an exMumbai firstclass cricketer by accident and was included in the MCA pension scheme as reported in these columns on June 6 2018 see picAlso read How a Facebook quiz won this Mumbai excricketer his MCA pensionThe Rs 10 lakh reward is the same amount each surviving member of the first Bombay Ranji Trophy team that played at the Wankhede Stadium in 197475 availed of recentlyWankhede Stadiumrsquos grand celebration marking its 50th anniversary on January 19 PicAtul KambleThe MCA received Godbolersquos letter a copy of which is with midday on Tuesday It stated ldquoSecretary Abhay Hadap thank you for the gesture however l would not like to accept Rs 10 lacs as I believe l was not the only person who contributed but also there were many individuals who contributed to building this iconic stadium and ensured its first Test Match was played in spite of many difficultiesrdquoGodbole told midday on Friday ldquoI donrsquot merit it R10 lakh because others have contributed too For example Ramji Dharod and Waman Bhagwat both deceased pacified the crowd who had threatened to damage the Wankhede pitch after a spectator was beaten up by the policemen for entering the playing arena when West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd reached his double century during the inaugural Test in 1975Vilas Godbole at Shivaji Park in 2018 File picAshish RajelsquoIrsquom just happy to be aliversquoldquoJust because I am the sole surviving member of that MCA managing committee doesnrsquot make me deserve this Irsquom just happy to be alive and Irsquom grateful for the salver the MCA presented me recentlyrdquoIn reaction to Godbole declining the Rs 10 lakh cheque MCA Secretary Hadap said that the Association decided to reward him since he is the only living member of the 197475 committee indicating that Godbolersquos decision must be accepted Apart from being a former administrator and coach Godbole is an exMumbai University batsman who represented the city of Mumbai in a 196465 match against the visiting Sri Lankan team at the Brabourne Stadium Since this January 810 1965 match was considered a firstclass game Godbole is a firstclass cricketer This he discovered through a weekly quiz conducted every Friday on Facebook in 2018 The MCA was informed of his firstclass cricketer status thus making him eligible for the Rs 20000 monthly pension The then newly discovered firstclass cricketer was unsurprisingly pleased when the MCA granted him the pension However he has been requesting the Association for several years to be paid for the years he missed out on the monthly paymentA salver presented to Vilas Godbole by MCA recentlyPending pension requestGodbole said in his latest letter to the MCA ldquoLastly I will highly appreciate if you kindly consider my retrospective pension amount due to me as a First Class cricketerrdquo Hadap told midday on Friday that the issue ldquohas been discussed many times and rejected many times But we will give it a thought againrdquoThe MCA initiated the monthly pension scheme with Rs 10000 in 2006 and increased it to Rs 20000 from 2014 Godbole turns 83 next Saturday