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After Sachin Tendulkar was unable to speak in the Rajya Sabha due to an uproar by the opposition, he took it to Facebook to deliver his speech. In a 15-minute-long video, the ‘Master Blaster’ said that he had wanted to raise the issue of financial security for national level athletes in the Parliament in what was supposed to be his debut speech.
He further added that while ensuring the financial stability of the retired athletes, we must also keep their minds engaged. Their skills and passion for sports would be best utilised for coaching the future generation sportsperson in their respective field, Tendulkar said. Incidentally, Tendulkar had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting inclusion of international medallists in the Central Government Health Scheme.
Sachin also requested the lawmakers to consider amending the Free and Compulsory Education Bill of 2009 by adding ‘Right to Play’ along with ‘Right to Free Education’.
The iconic batsman further added that sports can be considered an essential and mandated part of curriculum and consequently, each life should get the Right to Play at school.
Tendulkar cited the examples of national level hockey player Nauri Mundu from Jharkhand, who doubles up as a teacher and works on a farm to make ends meet, along with Sita Sahu, a medallist at the Special Olympics in Athens in 2011, who is selling 'golgappas' to manage her life.
Tendulkar also talked about his vision of a healthy and a fit India, besides raising the issue of India being the diabetes capital of the world with over 75 million people affected by the disease.
Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam
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