Howzzat! FM bowls a googly

But this decision to grant tax exemption to cricketers, who make millions, is an absolute travesty of democratic justice in a country where millions are starving and the middle-class are struggling to make a living.

On the one hand, we have politicians and bureaucrats wrangling for months over shifting stocks of foodgrain to areas reporting starvation deaths. And on the other hand, the Finance Minister, by the stroke of a pen and with no resistance whatsoever, offers these concessions to people who can well afford to pay taxes.

That is not all. Recently, there was yet another impulsive and unwarranted gesture — the Ferrari car that was gifted to Sachin was exempted from customs duty. And when NGOs plead for free import of donated computers — usually used in adult literacy programmes or other nobel causes — these same authorities refuse to waive off the customs duty.

Although Sachin could have easily afforded the duty, the authorities, if they really needed to show their appreciation, could have asked Ferrari to import the car and pay the required duty. What kind of justice is this that denies concessions to the development sector and offers them to the rich and for a super-luxury item at that?

Coming back to the Income Tax exemption, why can’t the BCCI pay up the tax money. After all, the organisation is sitting on vast funds collected from sponsors — who are also getting their tax exemptions — and from the large number of cricket fans who dig into their taxed incomes to pay for tickets of matches.

How indeed can anyone, least of all our Finance Minister, justify this kind of concession when no relief is offered to our middle-classes.

This gesture sets a dangerous precedent and smacks of more than one alarming feature:

• There is more than a hint of the Hindutva agenda, especially because of the timing of the announcement — just after India beat Pakistan.

• It smacks of populism, coming as it does during election-time. Our people’s hero-worship knows no bounds. It wouldn’t occur to them that they were being short-changed. This is precisely why our politicians keep repeating that the business classes or the intelligentsia don’t count, because they (the politicians) represent the common man.

• It brings to the fore the disproportionate bias in favour of cricket over all other sports. I agree that cricket has raked in enormous sums of money, but this does not mean that our cricketers should be spoilt silly. Let neither the governments nor the governing body give them a feeling of complacency and a sense of false security, regardless of whether they perform or not.

This leads to the question that should have been debated quite a few years back: what ails Indian cricket? Who is to blame: the politically-backed administrators; or the apathetic sponsors, who are only interested in milking their marketing benefits and not particularly concerned about whether the administration is properly utilising the funds for the betterment of the game; or the media who are largely responsible for the hype, pushing our crowds to fever pitch; or the fans out there whose emotions, as far as cricket is concerned, swing like a pendulum and who have no means of bringing about order or good governance as there is no organised body to represent their interests.

The malady in cricket today echoes that in the country’s governance, or rather the lack of it. There is the same lack of transparency; the same brushing aside of criticism or opposition, stemming from the arrogance of unshakeable power; and last, but not the least, leakages, corruption, and nepotism that characterise the current environment in our country. To be fair to cricket, this affliction ails many other sports bodies to some extent as well.

So then isn’t it high time responsible citizens started seeking answers and solutions? This could lead to measures that could bring about a degree of transparency and stability in the future of the game — a game, which everyone acknowledges has become a religious passion with rich and poor alike.

The writer is executive trustee of Population First, an NGO which works on population and health issues. Responses can be sent to populationfirst@vsnl.net