India has 30% youth population, which is largest in the world.

After meeting basic

needs which includes Food, Clothing and Shelter, most important aspect is
fitness.
WHO developed the Global Recommendation on Physical Activity for Health ,
which explains the dose-response relationship between the frequency, duration,
intensity, type and total amount of physical activity needed for prevention of
NCDs(Non-communicable diseases) for different age-groups .
Further, in 1999 UNICEF initiated SHAPES(School, health and Physical Education
Services) Program to promote physical education and Sports in both Primary and
Secondary schools.
Yet we have not emphasized on this issue.
Do you know, India is the third most obese country in the world. This may lead to
inevitable illness, so there is a need to incorporate fitness as a culture. This is
indispensable to keep the workforce of India healthy, which in turn will help in
enhancing their efficiency as well as productivity.
Government ensures healthcare which addresses health promotion, prevention,
treatment (curative) and rehabilitation. But dont you think, we can cut down this
expenditure by developing fitness among the youth.
Are we all strong and fit?
If not, have we done enough to incorporate fitness as a culture of which sports
play the vital role?
Take the case of Jaipur, there are very few stadiums and playgrounds and most of
them are not accessible to all. Considering 3.4 million population of Jaipur, just 4
or 5 stadiums will not suffice.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Teachers' Day speech in 2014 raised concern
over problems like lack of toilets, library, playground, absence of information
technology and vocational courses in schools. Rajasthan is among the worst
affected states by lack of such facilities mentioned by the PM.
According to the statistics published in TOI, out of the 86,685 government
schools in the state, only 31,789 have playgrounds or 64% schools in the state
don't have this facility. Other facilities for sports like equipment are also found
lacking. The poor focus on sports is also reflected in the poor participation of
Rajasthan students in the sports arena. Even in state capital Jaipur which has
4,660 schools, only 2,139 have playgrounds.
Being a sportsperson, I can very surely say that without fitness nothing can be
achieved and therefore, I would like to suggest some measures which I feel
should be taken care of:

Physical Education must be made compulsory in all schools and colleges.

Training camps must be organized at zonal levels through which fitness

levels could be monitored and controlled. This will also help in spotting
talents.
Sadhulpur Government Sports School is the only training centre in
Rajasthan. There is an immense need to develop State-of-the-art training
centres in every district for athletic enhancement dedicated to developing
extraordinary athletes.
I would like to quote the example of Australia, for school going children,
Sport is a compulsory and valued part of the curriculum and they are
required to indulge in any sport or physical activity for atleast 2 hours a
week.
The concept of outdoor gym (gym built outside in a public park) must be
introduced, which is quite popular in USA, Europe and China. Infact,
outdoor gyms have been used in China as a national fitness campaign
prior to 2008 Summer Olympics. (Butterfly, leg toner, squat, bench press,
leg press, chest press, vertical press, shoulder press).
There should be a fitness centre exclusively for women in every school and
college. Reason being, behind every healthy child, there is a healthy
mother and healthy mothers are childrens first line of defence against
death, malnutrition. If the mother is sick, then it becomes a vicious cycle
of sickness. This measure can dramatically reduce infant mortality rate.
Sportsmen have 2% quota in government jobs, but according to me this is
making them weak. Instead there should be reservation in all the technical
and non-technical institutes including ITI training institutes for sportsmen
who have not been included in national squad. This will empower them
and educate them with entrepreneurial or technical skills, which will make
them self-reliant.
I believe all the aforementioned missions will succeed when state will have
Directorate of Physical Education and Sports, who will be responsible for
developing fitness model for the state population. He should focus on R&D
in Sports Science and Engineering. This is necessary because, to my best
of knowledge, maximum good scientific equipment is procured from
abroad. It would be a good idea to make them in India.