NEW DELHI: Aiming promotion of sports in schools and rural parts of the country, a non-profit organisation, Sports A Way of Life, that exclusively works in the field of sports launched a sports literacy promotion van on Friday. The promotion vehicle will visit districts and encourage district administrations to set up at least one model sports village in every district. It will also encourage village panchayats to upgrade sports infrastructure and generate awareness among villagers and youth about different sporting activities.
The van is equipped with a big screen and will show three documentaries based on India’s achievement in sports, Olympics and the concept of ‘Model Sports Village’. Kanishka Pandey, founder of the NGO, said their team has identified more than 40 sportspersons who have won top honours such as Arjuna Award, Khel Ratna and Dronacharya awards in each district and these persons will act as “mission messengers” and help the team explain the objective of the sports literacy program to district administrations and village panchayats and submit a memorandum encouraging them to promote sports and upgrade the infrastructure.
Pandey said their’s is a pan- India programme and the team will visit various states to promote sports education at village and district levels. “In the first phase, the van will start from Ghaziabad towards Lucknow and will cover all districts on the way such as Hapur, Shahjahanpir, Sitapur, Barielly, Muradabad and Rampur. The van will be travelling to district headquarters and the team members along with locally-identified eminent sportsperson will meet the District Magistrate and handover the memorandum. After discussions, the team will move to villages,” said Pandey, who heads the Sports Research Centre, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.