New Delhi, June 2 (IANS): Delhi Golf Club does not get any funding from the government, therefore it cannot be equated with Qutub Golf Course, which is owned and funded by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), said club official after 59 workers were laid off from the F&B division, as it incurred major losses. The sacked employees stormed the club on Tuesday and held a protest outside its premises.
Queried on the difference between the Delhi Golf Club and the Qutab Golf Course, and the possibility that the former is governed on the lines of the later, club's president R.S. Bedi said: "Qutab Golf Course is owned and funded by the Delhi Development Authority, and the Delhi Golf Club is a section 8 company under Companies Act 2013.
"The facilities at the club do not get any funding from the government. We pay very heavy property taxes, and license fee in accordance with law." The golf club is also on a government land.
"The entire retrenchment compensation was paid in a day. The highest compensation, Rs 39 Lakh, was paid to the cook. We had tried to negotiate with them, but they refused. Now they are resorting to hooliganism and taking law into their hands," said Bedi.
Queried on the waiting time for the elite club membership and keen golfers struggling to get a slot, Bedi added it usually takes 30 years, to be considered for membership. "Our golf course is never empty, we distribute days. One cannot play six days a week.
"In winters, when the days are small, it is tough to find a slot. We have a total footfall of nearly 300 people in a day… The processing fee of the membership is between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000, and it takes at least three decades to get membership," said Bedi.
Queried on multi-crore expenditure on the renovation of the golf club on the recommendation of a foreign club superintendent, Bedi replied the course superintendent had already worked at the elite Calcutta Royal Club.
"The last superintendent was an Australian and his services ended in 2019. The existing superintendent is also a foreigner. The trough was 15 to 20 years old and ran out of its life due to adverse weather conditions and also due to age.
"We renovated the golf course between March - October 2019. We raised nearly Rs 12 crore through corporate for this. Not a single penny was spent from the Club's fund on the renovation," said Bedi.
Queried on the nature of auditors and the frequency of the club's audit, Bedi replied that the club engages both internal and external auditors. "The balance sheets are presented at Annual General Meeting (AGM). Every penny spent by the club is audited…We are a sports oriented club," added Bedi.
On the caddie demand to play, Bedi said caddie children and their staff children are enrolled in the golf promotion. "We have financed a waiter's daughter for a golf tournament in Ireland. The club works for the welfare of its employee," added Bedi.