The Indian contingent for the Rio Olympics this year can easily be called the happiest Olympic contingent from the nation yet. Not only is it the largest contingent from the country, but it has already secured a victory of sorts when it comes to the diet of our athletes. In a first, the menu at the games village will include our national cuisine. This has been possible due to the Narendra Modi-led government’s concerted efforts.
The menu will include dishes ranging from dal makhani, vegetable pulao, paneer masala and sambhar to tandoori chicken, egg bhurji, tandoori roti, raita and even Indians sweets. All this has been done to make the players more comfortable since familiar food is said to help the players stay fit, both physically and mentally.
But this ‘first’ wasn’t achieved in a day. It took months of perseverance by the Sports Ministry to get the Olympic Games Committee’s nod. The request was initially rejected as the committee didn’t find it viable to have a separate menu for just a single country’s contingent.
After months of persuasion and exchange of mails, the committee finally agreed to include an “Indian kitchen’ at the games village. This is a major bonus for the athletes since the availability of proper vegetarian food at the village is bleak. But this will no longer be a concern.
The PM Modi-led government has been taking keen interest in providing all the facilities possible for the athletes. The push for Indian food is part of the Modi government’s Rs 135-crore Olympic Games push that started in January 2015 with the program ‘Target Olympic Podium (TOP)’ that included 24-hour control room monitoring, mental trainers, Australian coaches, Dutch scientific trainers and a month-long stay in Rio to get used to the venue.
The menu will include dishes ranging from dal makhani, vegetable pulao, paneer masala and sambhar to tandoori chicken, egg bhurji, tandoori roti, raita and even Indians sweets. All this has been done to make the players more comfortable since familiar food is said to help the players stay fit, both physically and mentally.
But this ‘first’ wasn’t achieved in a day. It took months of perseverance by the Sports Ministry to get the Olympic Games Committee’s nod. The request was initially rejected as the committee didn’t find it viable to have a separate menu for just a single country’s contingent.
But the Ministry persuaded the committee and put forward the fact that the other South-Asian nations would also benefit from such a move.
The PM met the contingent personally before they left for Rio and also inaugurated the ‘Run for Rio’ event, aimed at giving a strong boost to the Indian contingent.
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