The BOSM English Press sat down with the members of the Sports Financial Committee (SFC), Pradyut Sood, Vidhatra Shukla, and Vinayak Bhattacharya, to talk about their workings for BOSM 2023. 

The SFC plays a largely advisory role to the CoSSAc. Particularly, their responsibilities entail the formation of the budget, the planning of the reimbursement schedules as well as advances, and coordination with the administration. The formulation of the overall budget also entails forming smaller budgets for each club and department, which is a tedious task owing to the miscellaneous costs involved, according to the members. Another key role taken up by the SFC is that of the Auditor of the fest. The SFC has also started integrating UPI as a payment method for fests since BOSM 2022. 

When asked about the small size of the committee and its implications, they admitted that the size posed challenges in managing the workload. However, it was necessary due to the handling of sensitive information and the high stakes involved. It is essential for the entire committee to be in agreement with each other and make decisions that are in the best interest of the Sports Union, which is easier to achieve with a smaller workforce. 

The members mentioned a 70–80% increase from the previous budget of 3.4 lakhs in prize money for BOSM 2023, despite keeping the registration fee the exact same.

The SFC has also introduced a new system of cancellations to combat the problems of overcharging and non-consensual signings. This has been implemented primarily to provide transparency.

Discussing the BOSM Review Meet (BRM), Pradyut said, ‘Often review meets are seen as a place with plenty of drama, we don’t really like that image.’ He went on to elaborate that the BRM exists as a platform for discussion on potential improvements by addressing all the concerns of various stakeholders and ensuring they are resolved. To make this process even more transparent, the minutes of the meet of BRM 2022 were compiled and shared with the GBM.

Talking about the BRM, the SFC expressed how they want everyone involved to work along with them and the BRC to keep the charter updated through the removal of redundant processes and the addition of updated and relevant ones.

The primary challenge being faced by the SFC recently is adapting to the changing internal processes of the institute. Despite agreeing that the changes towards a formal procedure are necessary, the members stated that the situation does present difficulties, especially when working with time-sensitive payments or agreements.

Finally, when inquired about the changes they would like to see in the SFC’s operations in the future, they said that they expect the future batches to establish a definitive workflow, which has not been flawlessly implemented due to differences in schedules of the present batches due to the pandemic.