In a tragic incident that has sent shockwaves through the sporting community of Haryana, two promising athletes lost their lives due to the use of unsafe sports equipment during training. The state's Minister of State for Sports, Gaurav Gautam, expressed profound grief over the incident on Wednesday, labeling such occurrences as completely unacceptable.
State-Wide Safety Crackdown Ordered
Taking immediate and serious note of the fatalities, Minister Gautam has initiated a comprehensive, state-wide safety audit. He has issued direct orders to the principals of all major sports institutions, including the Motilal Nehru School of Sports in Rai, Sonipat. Furthermore, deputy directors of sports boards in key regions—Ambala, Hisar, Rohtak, and Gurugram—along with all district sports officers across Haryana, have been directed to conduct a thorough inspection of all buildings and sports equipment within every sports complex under their jurisdiction.
The directive is clear and unequivocal: any sports gear found to be unsafe, dilapidated, or posing any risk to player safety must be removed from use immediately. The same strict instruction applies to any compromised sports infrastructure.
Urgent Repairs and Zero-Tolerance Policy
To ensure swift action, the minister has mandated that repair work for such faulty equipment and structures must begin without any delay. He has clarified that funds available with the district sports councils should be utilized for this purpose. In cases where funds have already been released by the directorate of sports to bodies like the Public Works Department or the Sports and Physical Fitness Authority of Haryana, the concerned departments have been ordered to coordinate immediately to ensure repair and reconstruction works are completed at the earliest.
Gautam left no room for ambiguity regarding the government's stance, emphasising that the safety of athletes is the top priority. He issued a stern warning that any negligence in implementing these crucial safety directions would not be tolerated by the state government.
The ultimate goal of this sweeping initiative is to ensure that across all sports complexes in Haryana, no athlete is ever forced to use unsafe equipment or train in damaged buildings, thereby completely ruling out the possibility of such a heartbreaking accident happening again.
