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\u2018Theoretically, the money is there, but it is squandered because its expenditure is predetermined by archaic rules that the bureaucracy has little incentive to change\u2019
\n | Photo Credit: Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n
Whenever concerns are raised about the lack of funding for Indian science, a solution often put forward is to tax \u201cunintellectual\u201d industries such as cinema, tourism, apparel, and perfumes. For example, only recently, an academic from one of India\u2019s leading research institutes suggested taxing the Indian Premier League (IPL), which, he argued, would magically generate \u201c\u20b915 billion\u201d for scientific pursuits; the \u201cstroke of genius\u201d was duly fawned over.<\/p>\n
This reflects a common instinct: it is naturally hard not to want a share of the cake for a \u2018nobler\u2019 cause, when a \u2018frivolous\u2019 business makes profit in plain view.<\/p>\n
It is equally easy to overlook the economic cascade effects of such frivolities. Organised sport, for example, generates employment across a multitude of allied industries: merchandise, food and beverage, broadcasting, physiotherapy and rehabilitation (sports science is a science too). This investment has undeniable trickle-down benefits, across more sports than one and beyond major cities.<\/p>\n
Though well-intentioned, the myopic and fallacious \u201ctax-this-to-fund-that\u201d proposition needs to be dispelled immediately.<\/p>\n