It’s only tears for Achrekar Sir as government forgets state funeral
Gaurav Gupta and Prafulla Marpakwar | TNN | Jan 4, 2019, 08:48 IST
Ramakant AchrekarMUMBAI: He produced a dozen odd cricketers who went on to play for India, including the greatest of them all, Sachin Tendulkar. He was bestowed with honours. He even received the Dronacharya award in 1990, and the Padma Shri in 2010. He is perhaps the most famous coach in Indian cricket.
Maybe someone forgot to inform the state government about the credentials of Ramakant Achrekar, who passed away at his Shivaji Park residence in Dadar on Wednesday at the age of
87. The renowned cricket coach’s cremation happened without state honours on Thursday morning, even as most of his famous students, including Tendulkar, bid him a teary goodbye, after “taking” their “Sir” to the Kamath Memorial pitch at Shivaji Park, where he coached cricketers all his life, one last time.
State housing minister Prakash Mehta, who was present at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Thursday, regretted Achrekar not getting a state funeral. He admitted that a “lack of communication” was responsible for it.
The faux pas could serve as a major embarrassment for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“As a representative of the Maharashtra government, I am sorry for whatever happened,” Mehta said. “This is a sad thing on our part, and I will check what the problem was.”
He said that with sports minister Vinod Tawde out of the city, a “protocol minister” could not be present for the last rites. Mehta said he got an intimation from the Mantralaya half an hour before the cremation began and rushed to attend it.
He promised to speak to Fadnavis about the government not paying appropriate tribute to a legend, one upon whose death even the Prime Minister had tweeted on Wednesday.
A touching tribute was the “guard of honour” given by young boys practising at Shivaji Park in the morning when Achrekar’s body, with his trademark Dev Anand cap, was taken to the ground in a small, open vehicle. Atop that vehicle, Tendulkar was accompanied by Achrekar’s other wards, Vinod Kambli, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Chandrakant Pandit. “Look at the number of runs on that vehicle,” an observer said.
Pandit, a former India wicketkeeper and current Vidarbha coach, wondered why the government gave honours like Padma Shri and the Dronacharya award if it could not respect the recipients. “When you gave a state funeral to (actress) Sridevi, who entertained her fans, then why not Achrekar Sir, who has contributed to both Mumbai and Indian cricket, and even given a Bharat Ratna to the country?” he said.
Former cricket captain Ajit Wadekar was also given a state funeral last year.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik asked Fadnavis to apologise for the lapse.
A senior bureaucrat said the CM could not be blamed as it was the responsibility of the department concerned or the district collector to bring to the notice of the CM or the General Administration Department (GAD) that a deceased person should get a state funeral. Collector Shivaji Jondhale said instructions for state funerals are issued by the GAD, but no such orders came.
The bureaucrat said state funerals are accorded to people holding constitutional posts. In other cases, the recommendation must come from the department concerned, the collector, leading organisations, family members or even individuals.
The bureaucrat said the state funeral for Sridevi happened after a request from her family.
The bureaucrat said it was not mandatory to accord a state funeral to recipients of Padma or national awards.
Sports minister Vinod Tawde said the government was thinking of setting up an institute in Achrekar’s memory.
Maybe someone forgot to inform the state government about the credentials of Ramakant Achrekar, who passed away at his Shivaji Park residence in Dadar on Wednesday at the age of
87. The renowned cricket coach’s cremation happened without state honours on Thursday morning, even as most of his famous students, including Tendulkar, bid him a teary goodbye, after “taking” their “Sir” to the Kamath Memorial pitch at Shivaji Park, where he coached cricketers all his life, one last time.
State housing minister Prakash Mehta, who was present at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Thursday, regretted Achrekar not getting a state funeral. He admitted that a “lack of communication” was responsible for it.
The faux pas could serve as a major embarrassment for chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“As a representative of the Maharashtra government, I am sorry for whatever happened,” Mehta said. “This is a sad thing on our part, and I will check what the problem was.”
He said that with sports minister Vinod Tawde out of the city, a “protocol minister” could not be present for the last rites. Mehta said he got an intimation from the Mantralaya half an hour before the cremation began and rushed to attend it.
He promised to speak to Fadnavis about the government not paying appropriate tribute to a legend, one upon whose death even the Prime Minister had tweeted on Wednesday.
A touching tribute was the “guard of honour” given by young boys practising at Shivaji Park in the morning when Achrekar’s body, with his trademark Dev Anand cap, was taken to the ground in a small, open vehicle. Atop that vehicle, Tendulkar was accompanied by Achrekar’s other wards, Vinod Kambli, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Chandrakant Pandit. “Look at the number of runs on that vehicle,” an observer said.
Pandit, a former India wicketkeeper and current Vidarbha coach, wondered why the government gave honours like Padma Shri and the Dronacharya award if it could not respect the recipients. “When you gave a state funeral to (actress) Sridevi, who entertained her fans, then why not Achrekar Sir, who has contributed to both Mumbai and Indian cricket, and even given a Bharat Ratna to the country?” he said.
Former cricket captain Ajit Wadekar was also given a state funeral last year.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik asked Fadnavis to apologise for the lapse.
A senior bureaucrat said the CM could not be blamed as it was the responsibility of the department concerned or the district collector to bring to the notice of the CM or the General Administration Department (GAD) that a deceased person should get a state funeral. Collector Shivaji Jondhale said instructions for state funerals are issued by the GAD, but no such orders came.
The bureaucrat said state funerals are accorded to people holding constitutional posts. In other cases, the recommendation must come from the department concerned, the collector, leading organisations, family members or even individuals.
The bureaucrat said the state funeral for Sridevi happened after a request from her family.
The bureaucrat said it was not mandatory to accord a state funeral to recipients of Padma or national awards.
Sports minister Vinod Tawde said the government was thinking of setting up an institute in Achrekar’s memory.
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