Thyagraj Stadium row: IAS officer and dog who used to walk their dog at facility transferred out of Delhi

New Delhi, May 26, 2022

Hours after reports appeared about alleged misuse of facilities at Delhi's Thyagraj Stadium by senior IAS officer Sanjeev Khirwar and his wife and fellow IAS officer Rinku Dugga, both were on Thursday transferred out of the national capital to different locations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs transferred Khirwar to Ladakh and Dugga to Arunachal Pradesh.

As per the media reports, the government-run Thyagraj Stadium was being closed for sports activities earlier than usual in the evening so that the bureaucrat and his wife could walk their dog at the facility.

The Home Ministry had sought a report from the Delhi Chief Secretary in the matter, and ook action after he submitted his report.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed all Delhi Government sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 PM.

Tagging the media report that alleged that over the past few months, athletes and coaches at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium have been forced to end their training earlier than usual, by 7 pm, Sisodia tweeted that Kejriwal has directed all sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 pm.

According to the report, some athletes and their parents alleged that the reason for the early wrap-up of their training was that Delhi's Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar walks his dog at the facility about half an hour later. However, the senior bureaucrat termed the allegation as absolutely incorrect as per the report.

"News reports have brought to our notice that certain sports facilities are being closed early causing inconvenience to sportsmen who wish to play till late nite (sic). CM @ArvindKejriwal has directed that all Delhi Govt sports facilities to stay open for sportsmen till 10 pm," said the Deputy CM in a tweet.

The players were unhappy because they had to start their training earlier than usual despite the high temperatures so that they can wrap up their session before the stadium was closed at 7 pm.

IANS