Good health is important for all, not only for sportspersons: Hockey captain Rani Rampal

Captain of the Indian women's hockey team Rani Rampal had a word of advise for youth of India - strive for fitness as good health is very important for all, not only for sportspersons.

"Health is a very important thing for all of us. Not only for sportspeople, but also for all of us...youth," the Padma Shri awarded hockey player Rani Rampal said addressing the youth at the National Youth Festival 2022, hosted by Puducherry Government, as per an official release.

The Virtual National Youth Festival 2022 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Anurag Thakur in collaboration with the host state - Government of Puducherry on January 12, 2022.

Taking into account the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival is a historic event being conducted as a virtual experience for the young audience - logging on from varied remote geographies and locations in India.

Rani Rampal, who shared the vision of the Indian Women's Hockey team to push forward in the upcoming Olympic Games and spoke at length about her own journey as a sportsperson, thanked the Ministry of Sports for training world class athletes for the country by providing all possible support and better infrastructure.

"We are lucky to live in an environment where sporting talent is being nurtured in the country. All credit goes to our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Sports Ministry for the best performance of Indian Contingent and winning more medals for the country in Olympics," said Rani Rampal.

The two-day festival is being hosted under the vision of the Prime Minister to forge a new India and harness the power of youth. The summit features contemporary themes like Environment and Climate Change Leadership, Tech, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Indigenous and Ancient Wisdom and National Character, Nation Building and Homegrown Intellectuals.

The summit witnessed personalities like Conservationist - Hans Dalal, Randeep Hooda, Historians like Sanjiv Sanyal and Hindol Sengupta who has written a biography on Swami Vivekananda, Manoj Kumar - a development economist turned agriculturist teamed up with stalwarts from the entrepreneurial world like Founder and CEO of Paytm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Dushyant Shridhar - who dived into vedic wisdom for the young audience to deliver the doctrines and foundational principles of Brand New India.

( With inputs from ANI )