Coinciding with the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the government has launched a fitness movement combining it with a cleaning drive to make India litter-free.
On the occasion, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports launched the “Fit India Plog run”, from the grounds of the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on October 2. Plogging is a blend of jogging and picking up litter which originated in Sweden in 2016 and spreading to other countries from thereon.
The Fit India Plog run was flagged off by Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. A sports enthusiast, Mr. Rijiju also participated in the Plog run along with prominent sportspersons from the country. Joining him during the run were Bajrang Punia, Abhishek Verma, Sanjeev Rajput, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, and most importantly Ripu Daman—who is the renowned Indian plogger to spearhead this movement in the country.
Power Sportz correspondent Vivek Prabhakar Singh along with camera person Mukesh Chander ran alongside Kiren Rijiju and managed an exclusive conversation with the Hon’ble Minister gathering some quick information from him. “This (fit India & clean India movement) will change India because if we make Indian people fitter… if we make India cleaner… naturally India will become better,” said Kiren Rijiju to our correspondent. “Nothing is better than starting off on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday,” he said.
Calling it a “wonderful effort” the Minister thanked all the iconic sportspersons, Olympians, Ripu Daman, and the other participants who joined him during the plogging.