IAS officers walks with Dog: For the past few months, complaints have surfaced of athletes and coaches being forced to finish training by 7 pm earlier than normal at the Thyagraj Stadium, run by the Delhi government. According to him, the reason for this is that Delhi's Principal Secretary (Revenue) Sanjeev Khirwar takes his dog here for a walk. In this case, the stadium officials say that they are not aware that anything like this is happening.
A coach said that we used to train under lights till 8-8.30 pm. But now we are asked to leave the field by 7 pm so that the officer can walk his dogs here. The coach says that our training routine has been disrupted. When contacted in the matter, 1994 batch IAS officer Khirwar termed the allegation as "absolutely false". He admitted that he "occasionally" takes his pet dog for a walk in the stadium, but denies that it disrupts the athletes' practice routines.
Stadium administrator Ajit Choudhary told The Indian Express that the official timings are 4-6 pm, but "given the heat" they allow athletes to train till 7 pm, the Indian Express reported. Choudhary, however, did not share any official order specifying the timing. He said that he was not aware that any government officials were using the facilities after 7 pm. Chaudhary said that we have to close the stadium by 7 pm. This (stadium) is also a government office under the Delhi government. I am not aware of anything that an officer is using the facilities to walk his dog.
What did IAS Khirwar say in the matter
On Tuesday, the Indian Express saw that Khirwar reached the stadium with his dog after 7.30 pm. The pet could be seen roaming the track and football field, even as security guards were watching. When asked about this, Khirwar said: “I would never ask an athlete to leave my stadium.
Even if I go, I go after the athletes leave the stadium…we don't leave the dog on the track…we leave it when no one is around but never at the expense of an athlete. If there is anything objectionable in it, I will stop it." At the same time, the family members of the athletes are also expressing their anger over the fact that their children are facing problems in practice due to an official roaming the dog in the stadium.