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First-ever national sports seminar hopes to enrich sporting culture in India
The event was organised collectively by the NGO, Sports-A way of life and IMT, Ghaziabad.
New Delhi was host to the first national sports seminar on Saturday, October 19, in a bid to evolve the sports culture in the country. Besides, the seminar attempted to focus on encouraging the participation of kids in schools to take up sports-related activities with the potential of considering them as a career.
The seminar saw the participation of several renowned academicians and sports personalities who expressed their opinions on the culture of sports in the country and the challenges faced by athletes. The event was organised collectively by the NGO, Sports-A way of life and the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.
During the seminar, Kanishka Pandey, the President of Sports-A way of life, presented a research paper. Interestingly, he had recommended the ‘carrot and stick policy’ for parents in regards to developing a sports aptitude in their children before they start their kindergarten classes. While addressing the gathering, Mr. Pandey said, “There is no favorable environment for sports in our country. It is a very serious matter that the country with a population of 125 crores, won just two medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics."
We got one silver medal in the 2004 Olympics, three medals, including gold in 2008, and six in 2012, which did not include a single gold medal and bagged just two medals in 2016. I think these performances show that we need to improve in sports.
With regard to the recently-launched Fit India Movement and the Khelo India, Kanishka explained, "Mr. Modi has a big policy for sports. He has recently started a campaign like Khelo India and Fit India. But it can’t be successful overnight. We need to change our mindset towards sports to achieve more success in the future."
Kanishka also elucidated the various merits of playing sports drawing out the benefits of discipline, and the different skills that the kids get accustomed to with time. Vice-Chancellor of Govind Guru Tribal University, Kailash Sodani said that he chaired a high-level committee only set up after Kanishka’s theory. Sodani later added that he was happy about sports philosophy being accepted as a compulsory subject in many Rajasthan universities.
Former Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) Ved Prakash, Olympic hockey player MP Singh, Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee Shri Ram Chandra and former Olympian Gopal Saini graced the occasion with their presence. "Sports can progress, only when it is seen at par with studies", said Olympian Zafar Iqbal. Ashish K Bhattacharya, Director of IMT, gave detailed information about the sports research center, adding that IMT is the first institute in the country to set up a sports research center for the development of sports in the country.
