New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the ‘Fit India Movement’ coinciding with hockey legend Major Dhyan Chanda’s birth anniversary celebration.
The movement seeks to create awareness about staying fit and inculcating the habit of doing exercise and yoga every day for leading a healthy life.
The movement is being supported by sports icons and celebrities from different walks of life.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities and colleges to prepare a fitness plan incorporating sports, exercise and physical activities for fitness into the daily routine of everyone on campus.
The fitness mission was launched by the PM from Delhi and the event was shown live across campuses in the country.
Key takeaways from the PM’s speech:
- The one thing which is common to all the successful people in sports, business, films and science is that they are all fit and follow a daily fitness regimen.
2. “If you are in any profession, you have to bring efficiency to your profession, then mental and physical fitness is important. Whether it is Boardroom or Bollywood, whoever is fit touches the sky,” he said. Fitness is ingrained in our culture. Till some years back, a normal person would walk 10 kms in a day. But with the advent of technology, physical activity is hardly pursued.
3. Recent studies have shown teenagers are falling prey to diabetes and younger persons are dying of heart attacks. Regular physical activities are the only way to keep such diseases away.
4. Countries such as China, the US and Britain have also launched nation-wide fitness campaigns. The objective is to ensure a healthy population. We should strive to stay healthy as well.
5. The PM said families should discuss the need to stay fit and healthy and encourage the younger ones to be serious about engaging in daily physical activities.
“Some people get excited and talk about fitness and also buy fitness-related gadgets. But after a few days, those gadgets are placed in the corner of the house. People keep fitness app in mobile, but after some time do not use that app,” he said.