Anurag Thakur chairs high-level meet to review India's Olympic preparation

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday chaired the first review meeting after taking charge of his ministry as he took stock of India's preparation for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

The meeting of the high-level committee was also attended by his deputy Nisith Pramanik and the officials of the sports ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

While it was the seventh meeting of the committee, it was thei first for Thakur and Pramanik after taking charge of the sports ministry last week.

Thakur took charge as sports minister from Kiren Rijiju last week following a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 35-year-old Pramanik, a first-time MP from Bengal, was appointed as the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports under Thakur, who is a cabinet minister.

During the meeting chaired by Thakur, various issues, including the provision of world class training facilities for the Olympic-bound athletes were discussed.

"It was a normal review meeting of the high-level committee which has been going on for long. In these meetings, we take stock of Indian athletes' preparation for the Olympics, to see if everything was on track or anything is pending which needs to be addressed," an official source told PTI.

Besides, Thakur also discussed with the officers the progress of #Cheer4India campaign and the preparations for the interaction of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Olympic-bound athletes on Tuesday.

Modi will interact with the athletes virtually in his bid to motivate them ahead of the Tokyo Olympics which opens on July 23.

The interaction will be telecast live on Doordarshan and on various government social media platforms.

More than 120 Indian athletes will participate in the Tokyo Olympics amid strict health safety protocols because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Games will be held without any spectators from July 23 to August 8.