'Inspiring people to be fit is more important than chasing medals'

Hyderabad: Indian badminton team's chief national coach Pullela Gopichand on Wednesday said that launching a national movement to inspire people to be physically fit was far more important than chasing a few medals.

The ace badminton star of yesteryears addressed about 250 officers of All India Services, Central Civil Services and Military Engineer Services from across the country who were attending their respective foundation courses at Dr MCRHRD Institute of Telangana.

Gopichand said that while India had done exceptionally well in the domains of literacy and education, the participation and performance of its younger generation in physical activities leave much to be desired and, as a result, they were not as physically fit as their parents or grandparents used to be.

"When we play sports, we develop health, character, human bonding, community building and happiness index. The traditional Indian sports like hockey, kabaddi, running, khokho, wrestling, archery, etc require less physical and financial resources and are within the easy reach of people belonging to all sections of society, including its weaker counterparts," said Gopichand calling upon youth to play in large numbers rather than being mere spectators.

Gopichand called upon the trainee Civil Servants to do their optimum best in their future postings in order to create a culture of physical fitness in view of the fact that the youth was focusing mainly on enriching their academic achievements and ignoring their participation in games and sports. He called upon the trainee civil servants to learn from successful sportspersons in such areas for setting inspiring goals, motivating teams to perform well, building team spirit and inculcating high level of discipline considering the fact that that there are core similarities between the skill sets required of both civil servants and professional sportspersons.

The MCRHRD institute director general Harpreet Singh said that there was a direct relationship between physical fitness and productivity at workplace. People should start physical fitness and adopt a healthy lifestyle at a young age and continue them as part of habits so that they remain productive throughout their professional career, he said.