PM Modi launches Fit India movement: A look at other fitness programs he started

"Fitness is not just a word, it is a key requirement of a healthy and happy life," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said launching the Fit India movement

By: Express Web Desk

New Delhi | Updated: August 29, 2019 12:23 PM IST

3 min read

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of Fit India Program in New Delhi. (Express photo Anil Sharma)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the “Fit India Movement”, a nation-wide campaign to encourage citizens to take up physical activity and sports in their daily life. Marking the occasion of National Sports Day, PM Modi said the initiative is the need of the hour and will take the country towards a healthier future.

“Fitness has always been an integral part of our culture. But there is indifference towards fitness issues now. With technology our physical activity has reduced,” he said, inviting Indians to make fitness a part of their daily routine. “Fitness is not just a word, it is a key requirement of a healthy and happy life,” he said, at a special event organised in New Delhi. Follow LIVE updates on Fit India movement

Before the Fit India movement, a look at the other fitness initiatives launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

* Yoga Day

Soon after coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on promoting Yoga. In the first Yoga Day celebrations held at Raj Path in New Delhi in 2015, Modi, along with other dignitaries had created two Guinness World Records by performing around 21 yoga asanas.

With India’s push, the United Nations declared June 21 as International Yoga Day and since then, the day is celebrated across the globe. It was PM Modi who had suggested the date in his UN address and had pushed for it as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

PM Narendra Modi has been a strong advocate of Yoga (Reuters)

* #HumFitTohIndiaFit campaign and the fitness challenge

Last year, the NDA government had launched the #HumFitTohIndiaFit campaign. The then sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had posted a video on Twitter doing 10 push-ups while encouraging netizens to share pictures and videos on the social networking site to show how they kept themselves fit. He had also tagged various celebrities asking them to take forward the challenge. It quickly caught on with prominent personalities from Bollywood and the sports community.

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Wearing a black jogging dress, Modi is seen walking on a track created around a tree, doing stretching exercise and sitting on a rock for meditation. (Source: PTI)

Prime Minister Modi was challenged by Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli. In a two-minute video of his exercise routine, the prime minister is seen practising several breathing exercises and some Yoga asanas. Apart from these, Modi said he walks on a track inspired by the five elements of nature.

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