Join anti-drugs fight: PM to athletes

New Delhi, October 10

PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged the athletes who represented the country at the most successful Asian Games yet in Hangzhou, to join India’s fight against drugs and become brand ambassadors for superfoods like millets.

Interacting with the Asian Games contingent here, the PM said India always had sporting talent but “past challenges prevented medal hauls”. Promising that financial constraints will never again fetter the flight of athletes, he said sports budget had been raised threefold in nine years and Khelo India scheme had become a cradle for talent.

He said 125 athletes at the Asian Games were Khelo India scheme finds. “Forty of them won medals. Nearly 3,000 plus are currently training under the scheme, which is giving sportspersons Rs 2.5 crore in help. Money will never hinder your path,” the PM said to top athletes, including Javelin sensation Neeraj Chopra.

He asked them to aid India’s “decisive fight against drugs”, noting: “You are aware of the effects of drugs and how doping has ruined careers. Please make it a point to speak for a drug-free India.” He said athletes were the “best brand ambassadors of the war against drugs.”