PM Modi gives sportspersons 'five-point mantra', asks them to spread positivity amid Covid-19 lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with India's top athletes and gave the five-point mantra of Sankalp, Sanyam, Sakaratmakta, Samman, and Sahyog to tackle coronavirus outbreak.

PM Modi said that sportspersons have brought glory to the nation and now have an important role to play in boosting the morale of the nation and spreading positivity.

According to PMO, the sportspersons thanked PM Modi for ensuring frontline health care workers and police personnel involved in this battle get the respect they deserve for their selfless service.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meeting with 40 top sportspersons, including Sachin Tendulkar, PV Sindhu and Hima Das, via video conferencing today, on #COVID19 situation in the country.

ANI (@ANI) April 3, 2020

They talked about the importance of discipline, mental strength, following fitness regimen and steps to boost immunity.

PM Narendra Modi, in a clip uploaded by shuttler Sai Praneeth, can be heard saying that he is confident that India will be rejuvenated by the inspiration that its sports stars can provide.

Your suggestions will be taken note of. We are fighting this pandemic like Team India. I am confident that India will be rejuvenated by the inspiration provided by you.

Its a great interaction with our honourable Prime Minister @narendramodi sir and @KirenRijiju sir.. Thank you for your valuable speech ... it is really a great motivation for all the athletes ... we all are with you in fighting this situation .#stayhomestaysafe

Sai Praneeth (@saiprneeth92) April 3, 2020

Meanwhile, ace paddler Achantha Sharath Kamal, who also participated in the video conference, said PM Modi made a reference to Virat Kohli’s fighting spirit’ in his conversation.

"The PM asked us to spread awareness on social distancing and hygiene. He spoke about how we need Virat's (Kohli) fighting spirit to win this battle," added veteran table tennis player Sharath Kamal.

A total of 49 athletes, along with sports minister Kiren Rijiju, participated in the video call.

PT Usha (Athletics), Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling), Pullela Gopichand (Badminton), Vishwanathan Anand (Chess), Hima Das (Athletics), Bajrang Punia (Wrestling), Manika Batra (Table Tennis), Rani Rampal (Hockey), Deepika Kumari (Archery), Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifting), Neeraj Chopra (Athletics), Sharad Kumar (Para Athletics - High Jump).

Apurvi Chandela (Shooting), Tarundeep Rai (Archery), Mary Kom (Boxing), Bhaichung

Bhutia (Football), Sardara Singh (Hockey), PV Sindhu (Badminton), Achanta Sharath Kamal (Table Tennis), Amit Panghal (Boxing), Gagan Narang (Shooting), Anju Bobby George (Athletics), Vinesh Phogat (Wrestling), Rohan Bopanna (Tennis).

Manu Bhaker (Shooting), Ankita Raina (Tennis), Sai Praneeth (Badminton), Srihari Natraj (Swimming), Harmeet Desai (Table Tennis), Abhishek Verma (Shooting), Avinash Sable (Athletics), KT Irfan (Athletics), Lovlina Boroghain (Boxing), Simranjeet Kaur (Boxing), Jeremy (Weightlifting), Bhavani Devi (Fencing), Pramod Bhagat (Para Badminton), Mamatha Poojary (Kabaddi).

The cricketers who participated in this video meeting are Zaheer Khan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Yuvraj Singh.

All sporting activities are currently shut in the country and it is still not clear when normalcy will resume. The much-anticipated Indian Premier League is among the big-ticket Indian events suspended till April 15.

The ministry source had told PTI the athletes have been requested to spread awareness about social distancing through their social media pages.

"They will ask them to pass across the message of maintaining the lockdown. He will urge them to post videos to keep people occupied," the source revealed.