Tanvi Pilane
Published on: March 21, 2022 at 11:38 IST
A Petition seeking to make Sports a Fundamental Right was filed in the Supreme Court recently. The Petition sought 90 minutes of Daily Playtime to be Mandatory.
‘From Stasis to Movement – Actualising a Fundamental Right to Physical Literacy in India’, the report submitted by the Amicus Curiae Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan also stated that under Article 21 of the Constitution, the term ‘Physical Literacy’ should be adopted instead of sports and should also be recognized as a fundamental right.
Feedback received from three of India’s sporting legends including former India and NCAA tennis champion Somdev Kishore Devvarman, former Indian Hockey Captain Viren Rasquinha, and Indian badminton legend and current Chief National Coach of the Indian team Mr. Pullela Gopichand was included in the report.
The Report suggests that the National Physical Literacy Mission (NLPM) should be established by the Government to give effect to the right by establishing and implementing a responsibilities matrix that includes Curriculum Design, Compliance Monitoring, and Review, Grievance Redressal and Self-Correction Mechanisms.
The Petition filed in the Supreme Court also sought the transfer of sports to the concurrent list and the formation of an independent Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth Empowerment at Union and State levels.
The Supreme Court had appointed Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan as the Amicus Curiae on 22nd April, 2019 to assist in the hearing of the present Petition.
The Petition for making sports into a fundamental Right was filed through Advocate Vashdeep Dalmia in the Supreme Court.
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