Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been promoting sports and games in the country through initiatives like Khelo India and Fit India.

Inaugurating the 'Baji Rout National Football Tournament' in Dhenkanal in Odisha today, the minister said the government's aim is to attract the younger generation stuck on the internet and TV to the playing field. He said , in order to realize this goal, the govt of India in association with the FIFA and  All India Football Federation has started the 'Football For School' initiative. The minister revealed that the programme, has been targeted to rope in about two crore fifty lakh school students towards football. He said that ten lakh footballs will be distributed among the govt and private schools in all the districts of the country through the Jawahar Navoday Vidyalaya.