Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi can instill greater National pride: Kalmadi

Sport for All message must be conveyed in telling terms, says Mrs Khullar

NEW DELHI, 28 January 2010: The Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi, scheduled to be organised through India from June 25 to October 3 this year, is a wonderful opportunity to instill a greater sense of national pride and to promote Olympic sports, Organising Committee Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Chairman Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, MP, has said.

Addressing the Queen’s Baton Relay Domestic Leg State Nodal Officers Conference, Mr Kalmadi said Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi is a unique opportunity for India to showcase itself. “We will be able to showcase our cultural diversity, our lifestyle, our democracy, our secularism and everything else that makes up the strong structure of India,” he said.

The 20,000km relay, presented by Hero Honda, will also be a chance for all States to honour their sporting legends, Mr. Kalmadi said. “Please ensure that all international sportspersons – past and present – residing in your State are involved in the relay,” he said. “It will ensure a high visibility for Olympic sport. In fact, the relay is an opportunity to bring together all members of the community.”

Mr Kalmadi also called for total co-ordination between all stakeholders -- State Governments, State Olympic Associations, local defence forces officials, police and the Organising Committee – so that the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi would be an exciting event and generate passion for Olympic sport in India.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Secretary Mrs..Sindhushree Khullar called upon the Nodal Officers to ensure that their States used the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi as a platform to convey a larger message. “Sport is for All and the relay will test the reach and outreach of the Directorates of Sport and the State Olympic Assocations,” she said.

“You must make sure that the Queen’s Baton Relay 2010 Delhi touches the lives of millions of people,” Mrs. Khullar said. “Let it be the launching pad for the creation of a greater sense of sports consciousness in the country. Only then can we get to the levels of even Cuba which has 20,000 national level sportspersons – compared to the 5,000 that we now have.”

The Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi is due to arrive in India from Pakistan at the Wagah border on June 25, 2010. It will then visit all 28 States and seven Union Territories before reaching Delhi on September 30, giving it three days in the State capital before the start of the Commonwealth Games on October 3.

The Queen’s Baton 2010 Delhi, which has travelled 50,000 km since the launch at Buckhingham Palace on October 29 and is now in Namibia as part of the last leg of its tour of Africa, will use different modes of transport – from defence aircraft to helicopters, from ships to camels, from parachutes to Hero Honda motorcycles – when it traverses the length and breadth of India, uniting the diverse people of India on a common platform.