Modi asks youth to use FIFA to promote India

With April 7 being the World Heath Day with focus on diabetes, the Prime Minister used the occasion to give tips to the people to defeat the debilitating disease and go for timely detection of other diseases like TB. Modi had water conservation also in his mind with summer already upon us and called upon people to conserve and create new water bodies. 

Noting that youth of the country was completely swayed by the ongoing T-20 series, the Prime Minister stressed the need of excelling and adopting other games like football and tennis.  Though, he said it was good that the youth had again started taking interest in football which, for the last few decades, had been relegated into background. 

‘’India had a good run in football earlier but that is not the case now. Today our rankings have hit an all-time low that I am falling short of words to describe the situation,’’ Modi said. 

Urging the people not to let the ‘big chance’ (World Cup) go waste by merely being a nice host, Modi said it must be used to instill in the people love and passion for the game. He asked the young citizens of the country to make use of the coming FIFA event, which India is hosting this time, to show to the world the ‘Brand India’, and also invited suggestions from them regarding the events, theme song, facilities and ways to involve youth in the event. 

‘’Let football be the flavour of the year. Let it be taken to every village and street of the country,’’ he said. The Prime Minister invited the suggestions on his Narendra Modi Mobile App, and stressed that during the FIFA event, every youth should become a brand ambassador for the country. 

Modi also asked the youth to use the coming vacations for travelling throughout the country, saying that it was best way to learn, and underlined that travel and tourism had immense possibilities to create jobs, but in India, the tourism sector was  still lagging far behind other countries.