Former Olympian Zafar Iqubal flags off sports literacy van

Former Olympian and field hockey player Zafar Iqubal flagged off a sports literacy van here as part of an awareness programme.The van, Sports a Way of Life started from a hotel in Sahibabad on Friday in the presence of Khel Ratan and Paralympics gold medal winner Devendra Jahjharia and Olympian and Arjun Awardee Ashok Dhyan Chand, the son of former renowned hockey player late major Dhyan Singh.Kanishka Pandey, Head of Sports Research Centre at Institute of Management Technology IMT, said that only 5 percent population in the state was aware of sports.

Former Olympian and field hockey player Zafar Iqubal flagged off a "sports literacy van" here as part of an awareness program.

The van, 'Sports a Way of Life' started from a hotel in Sahibabad on Friday in the presence of Khel Ratan and Paralympics gold medal winner Devendra Jahjharia and Olympian and Arjun Awardee Ashok Dhyan Chand, the son of former renowned hockey player late major Dhyan Singh.

Kanishka Pandey, Head of Sports Research Centre at Institute of Management Technology (IMT), said that only 5 percent population in the state was aware of sports. Only 2.5 women were educated about the field, he said. The sports literacy van that started from Ghaziabad would station at Dasna town on Saturday where a documentary would be screened for people. The first phase of the awareness programme would culminate in Lucknow.

During its journey, the van would take a halt at the district headquarters to educate and encourage people of all ages to participate in sports activities.

Memorandums would be handed over to district magistrates to develop sports facilities, Pandey said.

This sports literacy mission would stress on the demand to establish one 'Ideal sports village' in every district. Furthermore, a suggestion would be put forward before the administration of every district for the nomenclature of roads in the name of eminent sportsmen, he added.