Have you read about a landmark proposal by 'Ministry
of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India'? The proposal is about giving
extra marks to students who showcase good physical fitness. I feel this is a
very progressive proposal indeed.
Related news items in English and Kannada:
The draft proposal's link is http://yas.nic.in/writereaddata/mainlinkFile/File921.pdf
Important Note: General public has time till
30th Sep 2012 to send in suggestions regarding this.
A note to fellow vegans: If you see the
introduction part, the ministry has correctly recognized the value of health
and fitness and how to achieve the same. I think we vegans should be quite
vocal in supporting this proposal, and we should demand a similar proposal to
promote healthy diet as well. If veganism gets a place in such a proposal, it
would be wonderful. It might go a long way in subsidizing veg food, taxing
non-veg food higher etc. and will help our goal i.e. better health,
preservation of environment and protection of animal rights.
depends on how "fitness" is measured. For example, whoever I am, I am not very strong--meaning if I am involved in a physical fight with somebody of my age, I am confident of losing it in 90% of the cases. That doesn't mean I am unfit. I may not be able to run faster than most people can do but I can do a strenuous hike more easily than many others. My Body Mass Index is quite good too. Every time I visit a doctor and they do a thorough blood and urine examination, they invariably say, I wish more people were like you--no smoking or drinking and perfect health. However, though I was very healthy, in schools so-called physical examination teachers always used to consider me not so fit. Given the quality of physical education teachers in India who most often are (or at least were) drunkards, I am not sure what will happen. However, as a policy it is good and it is great if it can be properly implemented which is often the problem in India anyway.
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