Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia takes PM Modi's 'Meet the Champions' initiative to schools in Panipat

Taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unique school visit campaign ahead, Indian wrestler and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia visited Aarohi Model School in Panipat in Haryana and met students of 75 schools from four districts.

During the visit, Bajrang spoke to students about the importance of 'Santulit Aahaar' (balanced diet), fitness and also promoted Indian traditional sports by participating in a game of kho-kho with the students. He even showed them some easy to do fitness exercises.

"I am very happy that I have come to this school, it reminds me of my school days because even I come from a village in Haryana and coming back here is like coming back to school. " said Bajrang Punia lauding the idea of PM of asking Olympians and Paralympians to visit schools across India and interact with students.

"India has one of the largest and youngest populations in the world, but we still get so few Olympic medals. One of the main reasons for this is as a nation a large section of the population is still undernourished and don't get the right diet. Therefore, if you want to be mentally and physically strong and see India on the top in any field, you need to eat the right things and exercise at least for half an hour, twice a day." explained Bajrang Punia.

This unique initiative is part of the government's 'Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' that was kicked off by Olympic Gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in Gujarat earlier this month.

Bajrang also stressed the need to have homemade food that has essentials like greens, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and urged kids to stay away from junk food.

"During my early days of training we were not allowed to even step out of our training centre daily, so when we got one chance to step out the first thing we wanted to do was to eat tasty roadside food like chaat and tikki. But that would be once in many months, not regularly. So, you have to promise me that you won't have junk food regularly, and you will try to give it up," the wrestler said.

The special school campaign 'Meet the Champions' is being jointly organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. In the coming months, Olympic and Paralympic heroes eill visit various schools across the country and interact with students in a similar fashion.

During their visit, the athletes will share their own experiences, life lessons, tips on how to eat right and also give inspirational boost to school children.

( With inputs from ANI )

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