LAHORE: The delay in the approval of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 has left former Test cricketers disheartened, as their monthly pension for July remains unchanged.

The PCB typically raises these pensions annually in line with inflation, but this

year’s increase did not materialise.

“I received my pension cheque this week with no increase,” a former

player told Dawn on Thursday. “We had anticipated an adjustment similar to what we received last year, but there was none.”

The pensioners emphasized that this support is crucial, as many former players are struggling financially.

They remain hopeful that the PCB will uphold its policy of adjusting pensions to match inflation rates.

In addition to the pension concerns, the PCB staff is also left waiting for a salary increase.

The lower-tier staff, in particular, are looking to the PCB—a wealthy organization—to address their financial strains, exacerbated by rising utility costs.

Notably, some employees are still earning Rs32,000 a month, below the Punjab government’s mandated minimum of Rs37,000.

The PCB has been allocating substantial funds, spending Rs12.80 billion to renovate its stadiums in Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi. Additionally, it acquired a Lahore building for Rs4 billion for hotel purposes and purchased a plot adjacent to it for Rs630 million, intending to develop a seven-star hotel.

The PCB also doubled its budget for domestic cricket to Rs4.5 billion this year.

Despite these investments indicating a healthy financial status, PCB’s reserves stood at Rs21 billion as of March 31, 2024, while their expenditures on the mentioned projects are around Rs23 billion.

A PCB spokesperson explained that the delay in the 2024-25 budget approval prevented any immediate pension increases.

However, they assured that pensioners would receive the due increase, along with arrears, next month.

Furthermore, ongoing renovations at Gaddafi Stadium have necessitated the relocation of PCB offices to the National Cricket Academy (NCA), which has been causing operational disruptions.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2024