New Delhi, Jan 31: Former wrestler Babita Phogat was added to the Oversight Committee that has been investigating allegations of sexual harassment and financial irregularities against the Wrestling Federation of India.
The committee, formed by the Sports Ministry, was also tasked with the day-to-day affairs of the federation for a month, after which it will submit its report to the ministry.
"Former wrestler Babita Phogat has been added to the panel of the Oversight Committee formed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to undertake the day-to-day administration of the Wrestling Federation of India," read a statement by the ministry on Tuesday.
The committee was formed after wrestlers called off their three-day protest against WFI while levelling the abovementioned serious allegations against the federation's president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The protesting wrestlers' group was spearheaded by Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik among others.
The addition of Babita, who quit wrestling to join the BJP in 2019, to the committee comes after star wrestlers expressed unhappiness about the committee being formed without consulting them. Babita's father Mahavir Singh Phogat and sister Sangita (wife of Bajrang) were also part of the protest at Jantar Mantar.
The other members of the oversight committee are MC Mary Kom (chairperson), Yogeshwar Dutt, Trupti Murgunde, Radhica Sreeman, Crd (Retd) Rajesh Rajagopalan.
The committee recently announced a 52-wrestler squad for the Zagreb Ranking Series. The committee included the protesting wrestlers in the squad for Croatia too but eight of them later pulled out citing a lack of preparations.
Apart from Bajrang, Sakshi, and Vinesh, the withdrawals also included Tokyo Olympic silver medallist Ravi Dahiya and World Championship silver medallist Deepak Punia.