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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a PIL seeking its direction to Centre and states to make sports compulsory in educational curriculum from elementary to higher education and to declare right to sports as a part of fundamental rights on line of right to education.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao issued notice to Centre, University Grants Commission (UGC), National Council of Educational Research and Training ( NCERT ) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) seeking their response on whether sports could be treated as part of fundamental rights to make government authorities liable to put in place sports infrastructure at all levels of education.

The bench passed the order on a petition filed by a law student Kanishka Pandey who approached the apex court through his advocate Rajeev Dubey pleading the court to intervene and direct the governments to encourage sports culture in educational institutions. The petitioner contended that inculcating sports values among children and young generation would bring and promote patience, comity, friendship and would remove several social evils prevailing in society.

“Unless positive steps for promotion of sports activities and sports education in the country is initiated, it is almost impossible for our country to be placed amongst medal winning countries. It is need of hour that congenial sports atmosphere be created and sufficient world class sports education and training should be imparted to the children from primary to higher education level to make them capable to be strong and competent to face challenges in life,” the petition said.

He contended that one national level sports person should be made part of the syllabus committee of all school boards and biographies of eminent players should be made part of syllabus. “In Sanskrit Vidyalayas and Madrassa also sports activities should be made compulsory and employment of one sports teacher should be made compulsory there,” the petitioner said.

“Children’s talent and sports aptitude should be tested from the elementary school days itself so that the talent of a child can be improved and developed through training and education. Sports should be compulsory subject at elementary stage and knowledge of all sports and sports equipment should be compulsorily provided to child at elementary stage itself. Sports should be taught as full time subject in schools and marks should be added in child’s educational performance report and children better in sports should be given weightage while admitting them to higher classes,” the petition said.

