Newly appointed Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports KirenRijiju on Monday promised to “bring a change” that would spark a “sporting revolution” in the country.
“Everyone knows cricket jargon like googly. Butgenerally people are not aware of the technical aspects of most sports. Andinterest will not be generated unless we go into the technicalities ofgames,” said Rijiju while on a visit to Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium here.
Rijiju said that creating awareness about Olympic sports wasparamount to helping India grow in the field. “I am very particular aboutmeeting the needs of the players. If they are supported, they won’t have toworry about anything but working hard,” said Rijiju.
He also said that the government won’t meddle with theautonomy of federations for individual sports in the country. “There hasto be good coordination between the federation and the government bodies sothat the needs of the players and the coaches are handled properly.
Rijiju also called for unity within and between federations.”I want to tell all the sports federations of the country that we are ateam. There should be no divisions or factions; we must sit on the same tablebecause we are all Team India,” he said.
“We will ensure that in the next three Olympics, we will make tremendous improvement,” said the Sports Minister. “I am very satisfied with whatever I have seen today, now it is about the results. We are planting the trees, now it is for them to bear fruits.”