National Sports Day 2019: PM Modi to launch ‘Fit India Movement’ today

New Delhi, Aug 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 'Fit India Movement' at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on National Sports Day at 10 am on Thursday.

The nation-wide campaign aims to encourage people to inculcate physical activity and sports in their everyday lives, a statement said.

The campaign is supported by several national sports icons including World Badminton champion PV Sindhu, sprinter Hima Das along with celebrated wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik.

The launch of the Fit India campaign will be telecast live on Doordarshan and will be simulcast on social media platforms Youtube and Facebook.

The Prime Minister had announced the launch of the campaign during his monthly radio address, "Mann Ki Baat" on August 25 and said he wanted to see his listeners fit and make them "fitness conscious". He had indicated that the fitness programme will have fixed goals.

Arrangements have been made for wide viewing of the launch; University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked affiliated higher educational institutes to make arrangements for live viewing of the event by the students.

Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju says the Prime Minister's initiative was receiving support from all sections of the society.

Fit India Movement is the latest among several other initiatives by the Prime Minister to promote fitness and health. PM is a well known supporter of Yoga and has in the past attributed his fitness to regular yoga and breathing exercises.

Last year, then sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore had also floated a fitness campaign called #HumFitTohIndiaFit. He had posted a video on Twitter doing 10 push-ups while encouraging sports personalities and people to share pictures and videos on the site to show how they kept themselves fit.

The Prime Minister had also accepted Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli's fitness challenge in May 2018 as part of a social media campaign, #HumFitTohIndiaFit and posted a video a month later, of him stretching and doing several yoga poses.