Haryana’s crumbling sports infrastructure behind 2 young deaths

THE basketball court in Rohtak’s Lakhan Majra village has had an enviable track record. Despite the near absence of institutional support, nearly 50 boys and girls have trained here and gone on to represent Haryana, with some even donning national colours. Many have secured government jobs. This remarkable sporting legacy has been overshadowed by a tragedy that has shaken the sports fraternity to the core — Lakhan Majra most of all.

Hardik Rathi, a teenager from the village who had been selected by the Indian Basketball Federation for the national team, died when a rusted iron pole fell on him as he was practising on the court. As the CCTV footage of the collapsing pole went viral, shock was replaced by anger over how and why the tragedy unfolded.

It came to light that a similar incident had taken place in Bahadurgarh town of Jhajjar district two days earlier. A budding basketball player, Aman, suffered injuries while practising at the Brig Hoshiar Singh Stadium on the Government Senior Secondary School grounds on Railway Road. He died at PGIMS, Rohtak, the same day as Hardik.

The twin tragedies in a state known for its sporting achievements have come as a grim reality check. Amid demands for fixing accountability, the issue of the crumbling sports infrastructure across the state has taken centre stage.

At both the sites, the hoop poles had become death traps. There were no government coaches, the poles were erected in open-air grounds with makeshift arrangements, and there was no technical oversight by the authorities.

Lakhan Majra residents told The Tribune that the pole that collapsed was installed in 2016. The girls’ team had received a pair of poles as the prize after winning a tournament, but these remained unused for some time. When the poles installed in 2009 began to deteriorate, the villagers decided to replace these with the unused pair lying in a corner of a village school.

Haryana Basketball Association (HBA) president Ajay Sheoran, who visited the spot on Friday, blamed the sports authorities for gross negligence. “It’s apparent that there has been no support from the government authorities, including the Sports Department, for this stadium. The situation is similar at many other places as well,” he said, adding that basketball is an indoor game. “We demand two indoor courts in this village,” he added.

Local players have for years pooled in resources to maintain and arrange infrastructure by reaching out to influential persons. Senior players have informally taken up coaching responsibilities in Lakhan Majra, turning this humble court into a noteworthy centre of basketball talent.

The 16-year-old Hardik belonged to a farming family. His father, Sandeep Rathi, doubles up as a contractual employee in the Food and Drug Administration Department in Rohtak.

Hardik and a co-villager were among the 24 players selected across the country for the Indian team recently. His younger brother Prateek (12) is also a basketball player. Both took coaching from the senior players in the village.

The grieving father said he was hopeful that Hardik would make it to the international arena soon.

“He was over 6 feet tall and one of the most talented players of the village. He could easily dunk the ball. He was practising the jumps when the mishap took place,” said a Lakhan Majra resident.

HBA chief Sheoran said the association has decided to bear the expenses of the education and sporting journey of Prateek.

Sandeep Singh, husband of sarpanch Usha Devi, said the village rose to prominence in the state basketball circuit after its team defeated adjoining Kiloi village (a traditional rival) in 2008 for the first time in nearly 25 years.

“After that victory, (Rohtak) MP Deepender Hooda provided funds to help set up the basketball ground. Two years ago, responding to the villagers’ demands, Hooda sanctioned a grant of about Rs 18.5 lakh for developing the stadium. But the grant is yet to be utilised,” he said.

“Hardik had recently been selected for the national team along with another boy. The whole village is in shock,” Sandeep Singh said.

He also pointed out that several senior basketball players, including Jagbir, Kaptan and Mohit Rathi, have been training the village youth for decades. “A sports nursery functioned here for two years when a government-appointed coach was posted, but it was discontinued recently. Yet the players continued training on their own,” he said.

Documents accessed by The Tribune reveal that a grant of Rs 12.3 lakh sanctioned by Deepender Hooda from the MPLAD fund remained unused for two years. The Chief Executive Officer of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Rohtak, had written to the Executive Engineer of Panchayati Raj on November 7, 2023, conveying administrative and financial approval for construction of the basketball court under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Hooda sanctioned another Rs 6.2 lakh for the same ground on June 26 this year. Sources said tenders were floated recently, but work has still not begun.

Hooda has criticised the authorities, demanding action against DRDA and the Sports Department officials for failing to utilise the funds. He also sought relief for the families of the victims.

“There are 481 stadiums in Haryana that were set up during the Congress government. But there has been no maintenance by the BJP government for over a decade. The infrastructure is collapsing, affecting Haryana’s sporting performance. Despite athletes bringing glory to the country, discrimination against Haryana is evident — only Rs 80 crore was released for a state that wins the highest number of medals,” he said. The CEO of DRDA-cum-ADC, Rohtak, Narender Kumar, said he was conducting an inquiry.

In Bahadurgarh, where Aman died, while the sports ground is owned by the Education Department, the Sports Department had got the stadium built. A basketball court was also set up in the stadium.

It was the Municipal Council, Bahadurgarh, that installed the basketball poles. But there is neither any basketball coach, nor any basketball team. The SDM of Bahadurgarh, Naseeb Singh, has been tasked with conducting an inquiry.

Though Haryana Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam, while talking to The Tribune, did not shy away from accepting accountability for the tragic death of two teenage basketball players, he said the stadiums were not under the purview of his department. He acknowledged though that when it comes to athletes’ safety, the government is responsible.

Gautam maintained, “In both the tragedies, the courts didn’t belong to the Sports Department. The Lakhan Majra incident took place on a basketball court that belonged to the panchayat, while the death in Bahadurgarh happened in the Education Department’s stadium. However, wherever a player plays, the Sports Department gets involved,” he said.

He has directed all District Sports Officers (DSOs) to check sports-related infrastructure across the state, regardless of which department owns the facility.

The Minister also highlighted recent investments to ensure maintenance, stating that they had been holding bi-monthly and monthly review meetings. “Last month, we released Rs 114 crore to the Public Works Department for the maintenance of 92 stadiums,” he said.

Lakhan Majra residents, meanwhile, are finding it hard to come to terms with Hardik’s loss and the circumstances surrounding it. An apt tribute to the boys, as a villager put it, would be to provide the best facilities to every youngster across the state.