Chandigarh Sports Department starts process to fill Joint Director’s post, coaches upset

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

The UT Sports Department has finally started the process for filling the post of Joint Director, which has been lying vacant since October 2019.

The move though has disappointed local coaches as the Sports Department has decided to appoint a person from outside, by way of transfer or on deputation, to the post.

In a letter issued earlier this month, the department had invited applications from the interested candidates for the post. The applications needed to be sent within 21 days.

Sports Department circular

The appointment of Class I officer (Joint Director) will be made by way of transfer/deputation.

The person should not be above 55 years of age (as on January 1, 2020) and should be a postgraduate in Physical Education or equivalent in any sport, with administrative experience, especially in the field of sports

The person should be active in sports and physically fit and presentable

According to a Sports Department circular, the appointment of Class I officer (Joint Director) will be made by way of transfer/deputation.

The person should not be above 55 years of age (as on January 1, 2020) and should be a postgraduate in Physical Education or equivalent in any sport, with administrative experience, especially in the field of sports, the circular stated.

The person should be active in sports and physically fit and presentable, added the circular which has been sent to Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and all the heads of the UT Administration.

As per existing norms, the post of Joint Director Sports should be filled by a Class-I officer of the state or the Centre having an experience and background of sports or sports administration.

No effort has been made to promote coaches even after an initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1997.

Though the authorities in the past had maintained that they approached the Union Public Service Commission for setting up criteria for filling the post (Joint Director Sports), old norms have been continued to be followed by the department, thus restricting coaches from getting experience of the administrative works.

As per the Punjab Civil Service rules, also followed by the UT for filling the Joint Director Sports post, a minimum of 15 years of service in administration or filed of sports is required, said a source. But in the current circular, nothing has been mentioned about years of experience.

Interestingly, no coach has been promoted to the rank of Joint Director Sports since the UT Sports Department came into being in 1984.

“Since the formation of this department, no coach has been promoted to the rank of Joint Director Sports,” said former District Sports Officer KS Bharti, who was given the additional charge of JDS for a year.

“In my case, I was given additional charge for only one year, despite fulfilling the criteria. The same happened with my successors. The draft rules submitted to the UPSC for promotion of UT cadre (Sports Department) were never reviewed by the administration,” Bharti pointed out.