The Union government has recently given the additional charge of Director General (DG) of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to IAS Sujata Chaturvedi after IRS Sandip Pradhan’s tenure came to an end. Officer Pradhan completed his central deputation tenure on September 30th.
Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi, a 1989-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer, has been entrusted with the additional charge of DG of SAI on an interim basis. She will discharge the duty as SAI’s DG till a regular incumbent is appointed or an alternate arrangement is made by the government.
IRS Pradhan, a 1990-batch IRS-Income Tax officer, was first appointed as the DG of SAI in August 2019, after being promoted from deputy DG. In May 2020, his tenure was extended for two years, up to July 6th, 2022. In 2022, he was granted another tenure extension of more than two years till September 30th, 2024.
Before getting an appointment at the SAI, Pradhan had worked as director general of the Sports Authority of Gujarat for four years (2013-17) and also served as the Khelo India CEO. Earlier, he had worked as an additional commissioner of Income tax in Pune and as the Mumbai income tax commissioner.
Under his guidance, India saw two successful Olympic and Paralympic cycles in Tokyo and Paris, respectively, and registered impressive success in terms of winning medals under him. The growth of the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is considered one of the major contributing factors to India’s success — which grew in strength under Officer Pradhan’s stewardship.
