Union Minister of Youth and Sports Kiren Rijiju launched yet another nation-wide initiative, the Fit India Youth Club, on the occasion of the 74rd Independence Day of the country today. The Fit India Youth Club, a part of the Fit India Movement envisioned by Prime Minister, endeavours to harness the power of youth to create mass awareness about the importance of fitness, across the country.The Fit India Youth Clubs bring together fitness and voluntarism in a unique way in which 75 lakh volunteers of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and National Service Scheme, along with Scouts and Guides, NCC and other youth organisations will come together to register as Fit India Youth Clubs in every block in the country, under the aegis of a district unit and each member of the club will motivate people from the community to take up fitness activities of 30 to 60 minutes in his or her daily routine. Additionally, the clubs will organise and encourage schools and local bodies to organise one community fitness programme every quarter.Speaking about the initiative, Shri Rijiju said, “Only a fit citizen can contribute adequately to his or her country and help fellow citizens in their times of need. India is a country of 1.3 billion people, and we have 75 lakh youth volunteers already, and that number will go up to 1 crore very soon. I am sure that these 1 crore volunteers can motivate at least 30 crore Indians in every nook and corner of India to take up fitness activities regularly. With time, both the numbers of volunteers and those who can be motivated to join the Fit India Movement will grow, and soon, we will be able to reach out to every Indian.”One of the first initiatives that will be taken up by the Fit India Youth Clubs is to popularise the Fit India Freedom Run, which begins from August 15 to October 2 and is a unique concept that allows participants to run at their pace and at their place and plan their own running routes. The run has already gathered momentum across the country, with elite athletes, corporate leaders, men in uniform, school students taking to social media and posting pictures and videos of their Independence Day runs with #Run4India and #NewIndiaFitIndia.“The Fit India Movement will complete one year on August 29. Like the various events that have been organised in the last year, the Fit India Freedom Run has also attracted every section of the country. Various organisations like CISF, ITBP, BSF, CBSE Schools, CICSE schools, our own NSS, NYKS volunteers Scouts and Guides other youth organisations are taking active part. We will be assessing which block, district and city has performed the best in the run. It is important to keep a target and keep assessing our performance as a nation.”