THE ‘FIT INDIA FREEDOM RUN’ CAMPAIGN STARTED OVER WESTERN RAILWAY BY GENERAL MANAGER
Photo Caption:Shri Alok Kansal - General Manager of Western Railway is seen on the occasion of the ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ campaign.
The ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ campaign was launched by Western Railway on the initiative of Indian Railways, which has decided to implement this movement introduced under the aegis of Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India, across the Indian Railways. To mark the 74th Independence Day, this campaign is being carried out from 15th August, 2020 and will run upto 2nd October 2020 to commemerate the 151st birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. This campaign was launched over Western Railway by Shri Alok Kansal - General Manager of Western Railway. Leading from the front, General Manager started this fitness initiative by taking a walk, covering a distance of 5 Kms from his residence at Altamont Road to Girgaum Chowpatty at Charni Road station.
According to a press release issued by Shri Sumit Thakur - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, on this occasion, General Manager appealed to all Railwaymen & their family members to participate in this campaign whole heartedly. He set an example and encouraged each & everyone to ensure physical activity and exercise on a daily basis to overcome health problems related to sedentary form of lifestyle. He stated that a ‘Healthy Body’houses a ‘Healthy Mind’ which ignites new ideas & innovations and which will further lead to “Atmanirbar Bharat”. The unique feature of this initiative is that one can run or walk anywhere as per his / her convenience. Under this campaign, any person can choose the location & time according to his or her own choice, convenience, physical ability and condition of health. He or she can break the race at any point of time, can run race at his/her own pace and can track progress manually or through any tracking app or GPS-enabled watch.
Shri Thakur informed that the ‘Fit India Freedom Run’ is being organized at various places over Western Railway keeping in view the social distancing norms issued to fight Corona pandemic. Railway officers, employees and their family members across all the six divisions & workshops, participated in this campaign. The office bearers of Western Railway Sports Association along with prominent sportspersons of W. Rly viz. Shri Sebastian Xavier (Olympian and Arjuna Awardee - Swimmimg), Shri Pappu Yadav (Olympian and Arjuna Awardee - Wrestling), Shri Kripa Shankar Patel (Arjuna Awardee - Wrestling), Smt Tingolima Chanu (Arjuna Awardee - Hockey), Kum. Deep Grace Ekka (Olympian and Asian Games Silver Medalist - Hockey), Kum. Lilima Minz (Olympian and Asian Games Medalist - Hockey), Ms. Namita Toppo (Olympian and Asian Games Medalist - Hockey), Ms. Navnit Kaur (Olympian and Asian Games Silver Medalist - Hockey), Kum. Punam Raut (Indian Cricket Team Member), Kum Rajeshwari Gayakwad (Indian Cricket Team Member), Kum. Sulakshana Naik (Indian Cricket Team Member), Shri P Rangaswamy (Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist - Weightlifting), Shri P. Suresh (Asian Championship Gold Medalist – Powerlifting), Shri Amit Rohidas (Asian Games Bronze Medalist - Hockey), Shri Neelkanta Sharma (Junior World Cup Gold Medalist - Hockey) and many other international and national level sportspersons took part in the ‘Fit India Freedom Run’to encourage Railway employees and their family members. So far, 18256 participants (including officers, sportspersons, employees and their family members) from Western Railway have walked or ran 73782 Kms on cumulative basis. Shri Thakur further informed that, “We will continue to motivate railwaymen to take part in this initiative in large numbers and encourage them to lead a healthy lifestyle."
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