Edit/Op-Ed

Celebrating IPL Victory at State-Expense

Subhash Agrawal

It refers to huge spent of public-money and heavy loss of man-hours by West Bengal government in celebrating victory of a private cricket team in privately sponsored IPL cricket-matches, only because the winning team owned by a super-rich cine-star was named after state-capital Kolkatta! Is it fair on part of Mamta Banerjee representing herself poorest of the poor of the state? Should political rulers be allowed to take decisions only on basis of their own personal choice?

It has become a fashion of political rulers especially in states to spend heavily from public-exchequers and other state-resources (like land etc) in giving heavy awards to super-rich cricketers playing for BCCI which claims it to be solely a private organization. It is socially unfair too to give such heavy state-awards in tune of crores of rupees to each of the cricketer who in themselves are mines of money earned from cricket through advertisements, match-fees and awards declared by BCCI itself. Ironically winning-stars in other sports have to literally beg for petty cash-awards for their bright performance.

It is unfair and against humanity to make super-rich even extra richer at state-expense in a country where farmers commit suicides because of poverty. Supreme Court and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India should take cognizance of such partial and socially unjust biased favour towards cricketers that too when these represent a private BCCI and not India as nation. Supreme Court should even sue-motto take up matter of BCCI taken as public-authority under RTI Act because enormous money minted out of national craze for cricket should not be allowed to be spent and/or misused by some individuals controlling BCCI.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect BH’s editorial policy.

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