Sports Minister Jitu Patwari here on Wednesday scaled a rock climbing wall in less than a minute throwing a challenge to his counterpart Kiren Rijiju in New Delhi.
Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Patwari, who always sets his high standards of fitness on Wednesday reached Barkatullah University to attend a sports event riding a bicycle for several kilometres.
On reaching the university, he delivered fitness mantra to the students and for exhibiting his message with live example, he then expressed desire to scale the 40-feet-high rock climbing wall on the campus.
To the surprise of the students and faculties, Patwari immediately started climbing the wall and took almost a minute to reach the top amid applause from the crowd.
The Minister surprised those on the spot with the statement that despite being a sports lover, he hadn’t climbed the wall once in his life. I wished to set an example that fitness is the mantra to achieve success in life, the Minister added.
Patwari, an MLA from Indore’s Rau constituency despite his hectic engagements of politics makes it a point to pay attention to fitness and is seen in his constituency riding bicycle during his public contact drives.
Later, addressing the students in Bhopal university Patwari reaffirmed his older announcement that a new sports policy would be formulated in the State and 5 per cent reservation would be introduced in Government jobs to national and international medal winners in the State.
Announcing to enhance the grant for sports in Madhya Pradesh, Patwari announced that sports grounds will be improved in colleges
and universities in the State with Rs 200 crore.