CUTTACK: In a departure from its earlier exercise, the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) has included clubs and educational institutions as full members with voting rights.The inclusion of 20 clubs and 16 educational institutions, including eleven schools, as full members with voting rights has been made by incorporating fresh amendments to the amended bye-law of the OCA.In pursuance of a Supreme Court directive, a five-member working committee of the OCA had reworked the existing bye-law to mirror the new BCCI constitution approved by the apex court. In the process, clubs and educational institutions that were previously full members were reduced to associate members without voting rights. The amended bye-law was submitted for registration to the Registrar of Societies in Cuttack in September 2018.The revised bye-law with the fresh amendments was submitted to the Registrar of Societies for registration on February 13.The OCA working committee chairman Dhiren Pallai said the amended bye-law was revised by incorporating fresh amendments 'as per the advice received from the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on February 8'."In the process, clubs and educational institutions have been included and the number of total full members with voting rights has gone up from 36 to 70," Pallai said on Tuesday.According to the bye-law with the fresh amendments, the 70 full members comprise 31 districts (including Bhubaneswar), the Rourkela Steel Plant, the East Coast Railway and the Paradip Port Trust, Ravenshaw University, KIIT, Stewart Science College, Christ College, SCB Medical College, 11 schools and 20 clubs. All 70 full members will be governed under the 'one member, one vote' rule.Earlier, each district had three votes, the clubs had two votes each and educational institutions had a vote each.The OCA had come under flak from the city's clubs after the submission of the amended bye-law that reduced them to associate members without voting rights.The controversy reached the high court, with the Cuttack-based Sunrise Club challenging the deletion of clubs from the full membership of the OCA. Acting on it, the high court had on February 4 issued a notice to the OCA to file a counter-affidavit by February 18. The OCA is yet to do so.When all the office-bearers quit their posts following the Supreme Court's order to implement the Lodha Committee reforms, the OCA had constituted a five-member ad-hoc working committee on February 5, 2017.The working committee was to oversee the running of the OCA till fresh elections.Among the schools included as full members with voting rights are Bhubanananda Odisha School of Engineering, P M Academy, Stewart School, Secondary Board High School, Sayed Seminary, Ranihat High School, Ravenshaw Collegiate School , Christ Collegiate School, Railway Settlement High School, Municipal High School (Jobra) and Cambridge School.

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