Dilli’s Babu shut Thyagraj stadium for athletes to have some lovely ‘dog-time’

The arrogance of the bureaucrats is an open secret. Time and again, it has been seen that the officers who are in authority often misuse their powers. Another example of Thyagraj stadium has hit the Delhi grounds, where a bureaucrat assumed himself superior to athletes preparing for bringing glory to the country.

Shutting of a Delhi Thyagraj stadium

Athletes and coaches who were practising at the Delhi government-run Thyagraj Stadium were asked to vacate the stadium early so that an IAS officer could walk his dog on the premises. They were forced to wrap up their practice earlier than usual for the Delhi Principal’s Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar, who wanted a walk with his dog.

The coach at the Thyagraj stadium said, “We used to train till 8-8.30 pm under lights earlier. But now, we are asked to leave the ground by 7 pm so that the officer can walk his dog on the ground. Our training and practice routine has been disrupted.”

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When Khirwar, a 1994 batch IAS officer, was questioned about the misuse of his powers, he denied these allegations as “absolutely incorrect”. He said, “I would never ask an athlete to leave the Thyagraj stadium that belongs to them. Even if I visit, I go after the stadium is supposed to close…We don’t leave him (the pet) on the track…when no one is around we leave him but never at the cost of any athlete. If it’s something objectionable, I will stop it”.

Helpless people under officials

The Thyagraj Stadium was built in 2010 for the Commonwealth Games. It includes multi-discipline facilities for athletes working hard to bring pride to the nation and their respective states.

When the Stadium administrator Ajit Chaudhary was asked about this controversy, he expressed his negligence by stating that he had no idea of some official using the arena. He said, “We have to close by 7 pm. You can find the government office timings anywhere. This (stadium) is also a government office under the Delhi government. I am not aware of any such thing (an official using the facilities to walk his dog). I leave the stadium by 7 pm and I am not aware.”

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As soon as the news got viral on social media, users started condemning this plaintive behaviour of a civil servant who is actually not serving the civilians but rather infringing their right to freedom by misusing his authority.

A Twitter user said: “It’s not a dog’s life if you are the dog of an IAS officer.”

Another user demanded an inquiry on this issue from the CM of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal.

Office bearers were never hidden from showcasing their superiority to the public. Their egotism about the misuse of powers has always been the embittered reality of our society which needs to be rectified immediately.