IAS officer Ravi Mittal replaces Julaniya as Union Sports Secretary

Last updated on February 13th, 2023 at 03:52 pm

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet on Sunday appointed Ravi Mittal as the Union Sports Secretary. He has replaced incumbent Sports Secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya and will be working under the Ministry of Youth Affairs. Julaniya was appointed as the Sports Secretary in February 2019.

Prior to this appointment, Ravi Mittal was the Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. He was appointed as the Information and Broadcasting Secretary in December 2019, replacing Amit Khare. He is a 1986 batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre. Mittal has also worked as the Special Secretary in the Finance Ministry’s Department of Financial Services. Notably, many as 23 senior IAS officers have been appointed by the central government as secretaries in different departments as part of the bureaucratic reshuffle.

Radhey Shyam Julaniya brought the Indian cricket board (BCCI) under the ambit of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in the month of August 2019. As per recent media reports, Julaniya held a video conference with the All India Tennis Association and 10 other national federations. However, after the meeting, the national tennis federation reportedly slammed Julaniya for making unreasonable suggestions. AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee had expressed disappointment with Julaniya’s attitude and suggestions such as demanding a one-page proposal for two editions of the Olympic Games (2024 and 2028) or hiring Physical Training teachers to track fresh talent.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdown, the nomination process for the country’s most prestigious award for excellence in Sports- Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award – have been postponed. The circular for award applications has also not been issued yet by the central government.

Officials within the Sports Ministry have stated that the circulars are likely to be issued in May, which can delay the entire process and sports award event by another month.

Read: How this small district has kept itself safe of Covid-19?

India is currently under the second phase of its lockdown till May 3. As of April 27, the number of India’s COVID-19 confirmed cases is nearing 28,000. More than 800 people have lost their lives to the deadly disease.