Dog on the tracks

The news that a senior IAS officer in the Delhi Government, Sanjeev Khirwar, gets Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium emptied in the evenings so that he could walk his dog on the tracks should come as a shock to us — but we’re not really shocked, for we know that in our country, it is the norm for people in a position of power to misuse it. The trainees at Thyagraj Stadium were forced to start practice earlier than desirable, in severe heat, so that they could finish by 7 pm, when the stadium was cleared for the officer and his dog. The security guards merely kept watch as Khirwar and dog enjoyed the wonderful isolation of a big stadium! This episode lays bare the sense of entitlement many politicians and bureaucrats such as Khirwar gain after acquiring power — merely on the basis of winning an election or passing a tough exam, not due to a record of outstanding performance.

The senior bureaucrat ‘walking’ — surely, a euphemism for taking it out so that it could relieve itself — the unchained dog on the tracks in a sports stadium, accompanied by his wife, serves as a metaphor for the governance of sports in the country: It’s gone to the dogs, with officialdom literally soiling the stadiums. The disruption caused in the training of athletes was of no consequences to Khirwar or the officials who were aware of the situation, which has prevailed over the last ‘few’ months. Indeed, for bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen heading sports federations, the welfare of sportspersons is secondary to their own interests. To point out only one of countless examples, for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, top sprinter Dutee Chand flew three flights in economy class during a journey spanning 36 hours — and the officials travelled in the comfort of business class.

Bureaucrats, politicians and businessmen must keep out of sports governance — it’s best left to professional managers, with regulatory/advisory role for retired and active athletes, as is done in international golf and tennis. The courts have made efforts to cleanse sports administration — in recent days, Praful Patel has been removed as the head of the football federation while Narinder Batra’s ‘life membership’ of Hockey India has been deemed illegal. Entrenched officials don’t go easily, and much more needs to be done in many, many sports federations. As for the dog-walker, he deserves exemplary punishment, not a mere transfer.