Haryana Govt reshuffles sports leadership and transfers 20 officers after two teen athletes died when rusty basketball poles collapsed.

The Haryana Govt dismissed two senior officials from the sports department on Sunday, just days after two teenage athletes died as a result of rusty iron poles collapsing in basketball courts in Haryana.

Navdeep Singh Virk, an IPS official from 1994, has been replaced as commissioner of the sports department by Vijay Singh Dahiya, an IAS officer from 2001. Dahiya will still have extra duties for the departments of stationery, printing, and animal husbandry.

Another change is that Sanjeev Verma, an IAS official from the 2004 batch, has been replaced as director of sports by Parth Gupta, an IAS officer from the 2013 batch. Additionally, Gupta was named director of tourism.

The reorganization comes after two unfortunate events in which basketball players perished when iron poles supporting hoops collapsed. Aman, 15, passed away from his injuries while receiving treatment at PGIMS Rohtak on November 25, the day before national-level basketball player Hardik Rathee, 16, passed away in Rohtak.

A broader transfer and posting order affecting 20 IAS officers in Haryana was issued on Sunday, which included the changes in the sports department.

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In addition to previous appointments, IPS official Kala Ramachandran has been replaced as commissioner of the heritage and tourist department by IAS officer Amit Gupta Agrawal. Agrawal will remain in charge of public relations in addition to the industries and commerce division. Arun Kumar Gupta, the Chief Minister’s principal secretary, will now also be in charge of the department of urban local bodies and act as the Kurukshetra Development Board member secretary.

Ravi Prakash Gupta will be the new commissioner of the Hisar division, and Ashok Kumar Meena, an IAS official from the 2006 batch, has been named director general of the department of urban local bodies.

Mahender Pal has been named deputy commissioner of Hisar, and Preeti, an IAS official from the 2015 batch, will take over as deputy commissioner of Yamunanagar. Pardeep Kumar, an IAS officer from the 2011 batch, has been appointed director of the state transport department, while Aparajit, an IAS official from the 2018 batch, will assume leadership as deputy commissioner of Kaithal.