Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur on Sunday felicitated 72 school students across 36 States and UTs on their success in the second edition of the Fit India Quiz State Rounds. The felicitation took place in an event in Mumbai.
Seventy-two students clinched the top honours from their respective States and will now compete in the national round of the Fit India Quiz that will be telecast on Star Sports and Disney Hotstar.
The winning school from each State/UT received total prize money of Rs 2.5 Lakh, while the team of 2 students from the school was awarded a total of Rs 25,000. The State 1st Runner-up School received prize money of Rs 1 Lakh and the students a total of Rs 10,000. Similarly, the State 2nd Runner-up School got a cash award of Rs 50,000 and the participating students bagged a total of Rs 5,000.
“The sports ecosystem has changed manifold in India since the last 9 years since Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi took over. It is showing in our record medal tallies, be it in the Olympics, Paralympics or CWG. I believe we are also going to get the highest medal tally in Asian Games this September,” mentioned Anurag Singh Thakur.
Mentioning about the need of physical fitness, HMYAS added, “There has been a substantial rise in obesity cases, cardiac diseases in India each passing day. Among youth, screen time is also increasing. The only solution to this is to take to the playfield. Now the purpose of the Fit India quiz is to give the message of fitness and make school students aware of India’s sporting history. Keeping the National Education Policy in mind, we are doing as much as possible to make sports a part of the main curriculum in school. It is not just a co-curricular activity anymore. Academics and sports are being intertwined together across various platforms.”
A total of 348 schools and 418 students were selected for the state/UT rounds. Among these students, 39% were girl students. The selected schools formed a team of two students, who competed for the State/UT championship through a series of web rounds. A total of 120 rounds were conducted to identify 36 State/UT champions. As many as 12 out of 36 schools identified as state/UT champions are government schools.
The 2nd edition of the Fit India National Fitness and Sports Quiz for Schools was launched on 29th August last year on the eve of the National Sports Day by Anurag Singh Thakur and Minister of State, Youth Affairs & Sports and Ministry of Home Affairs, Nisith Pramanik, in the presence of Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Following the success of the 1st edition of the Fit India Quiz, the second edition received a massive response. The 2nd edition of the quiz has seen a massive participation of 61,981 students from 16,702 schools across 702 districts of India. In comparison, the first edition of the Fit India Quiz saw a total participation of 36,299 students from 13,502 schools. It also amounted to a 70% increase in the number of students participating in the second edition of the quiz as compared to the first edition.
Talking about the massive participation, Thakur said, “The vision of Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat is being upheld by every means through the quiz. There are so many students from different parts of country – be it Andaman and Nicobar, Kargil, Lakshwadeep and more. This gives all the students a great chance to build connections and also make sure there is a lot of cultural exchange taking place among them.”
Fit India Quiz is India’s biggest quiz on sports and fitness for school going children. The quiz was launched in 2020 with the aim of propagating the message of Fit India among school children and strengthening its presence in schools. The quiz has a total cash prize of ₹ 3.25 crore which goes to the school and students. It gives a unique platform to students from each and every nook and corner of the country to showcase their knowledge in sports and fitness and provide a platform on the National level.
The winning school following the National rounds will bag total prize money of Rs 25 Lakh while the 1st runners-up and the 2nd runners up schools will bag Rs 15 Lakh and Rs 10 Lakh respectively.
