New Delhi, Nov 8 (PTI) Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday lauded the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) decision to observe Fitness Week later this month as part of the Fit India Movement.

In a step aimed to inculcate the habit of fitness among school children, the CBSE will be observing Fitness Week in the second and third weeks of November.

The objective is to bring about a behaviour change among school children from spending "Passive Screen Time" to "Active Field Time" -- moving them away from computer screens to open fields.

This first-of-its-kind endeavour will see participation of 22000 CBSE schools from all over the country, according to a release.

Lauding the initiative, Rijiju said, "I am very happy to know that CBSE has decided to celebrate Fitness Week in all its affiliated schools. The Fit India Movement, envisioned by Honourable PM, is the need of the hour and we must make every effort to inculcate fitness habits in Indians from an early age.

"The Sports Ministry is in talks with education departments of all state governments and we will soon finalise the plan to observe Fitness Week in schools across the country in the last week of November."

The extensive 6-day programme during the Fitness Week will address both physical and mental fitness needs of children and goes beyond the usual form of physical exercises like yoga, freehand and includes interesting forms of fitness like dance, aerobics and gardening, among others.

Indigenous games from every state, such as Cowrie from Gujarat, Silamba from Tamil Nadu, Bante from Jammu and Kashmir, Gulli Danda from Punjab, Pambaram from Kerala, will also be included in the fitness regime of children.

Lectures by sports psychologists have been included to give children an insight into the importance of sports in character building and off field stress management.

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