Amid countrywide lockdown in view of the Covid19 outbreak, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with 40 eminent sportspersons including boxer Mary Kom and sprinter Hima Das.
Modi had interactions with the sportspersons via video conferencing.
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Prime Minister Modi said the gravity of the situation caused by the Coronavirus (Covid19) pandemic can be ascertained from the fact that the Olympics has been postponed for the first time since World War II.
During the video conferencing with 40 elite sportspersons of the country, Modi praised the sportspersons for bringing glory to the nation through stellar performances on the field.
He said the sportspersons now have a very important role to play in boosting the morale of the nation as well as spreading the message of social distancing along with asking people to continuously follow advisories given during lockdown, said the PMO.
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The PM asked them to include the following five points in their message to people: ‘Sankalp’ to fight the pandemic, ‘sanyam’ to follow social distancing and ‘sakaratmakta’ to maintain positivity.
Modi also asked them to show ‘samman’ to respect the frontline soldiers in the battle including the medical fraternity, the police personnel.
He also asked the sportspersons to extend ‘sahyog’ at personal level as well as at national level through contribution to PM-CARES fund.
Modi also asked them to highlight the importance of both physical and mental fitness and also popularize guidelines released by AYUSH Ministry.
The sportspersons thanked the PM for ensuring that the frontline health care workers and police personnel involved in this battle get the respect they truly deserve for their selfless service.
They talked about the importance of discipline, mental strength, following a fitness regimen and taking steps to boost immunity.
Apart from the Olympics, several other prominent international sporting events like Wimbledon and domestic sporting events like Indian Premier League for cricket have been shifted as well due to the challenges created by the pandemic.
PM mentioned that it is imperative India emerges victorious in this battle against the pandemic and expressed confidence in pro-active participation by the sportspersons in this battle.
Besides Mary Kom and Hima Das, the other sportspersons included Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, women’s hockey team captain Rani Rampal and men’s cricket team captain Virat Kohli.
Union minister for youth affairs & sports Kiren Rijiju and other senior officials of the ministry also participated in the interaction.
After the interaction, Hima Has tweeted: “Thank you PM @narendramodi sir for interacting with us on the current situation of #Covid_19 I feel each one of us must act with full responsibility in this fight against Covid-19 so that it won’t spread further.”