Took up boxing after watching Muhammad Ali on TV: Mary Kom
She is upset with younger generation of boxers for not approaching her for advice
Panaji, Apr 14: Six-time women's world boxing champion and Olympic medallist M C Mary Kom Saturday said she turned to this combat sport after getting inspired by watching legendary boxer Muhammad Ali's fight on television.
The pugilist from Manipur said she also drew inspiration from action movies of Jackie Chan as well as fight sequences of Bollywood films starring Akshay Kumar and others initially.
She was speaking during an interaction with the delegates at the ongoing 'Goa Fest 2019', an annual event organised by advertising bodies in the country.
"My inspiration in the boxing field came when I saw Muhammad Ali's fight on television...I said to myself, if a man can fight, why can't a woman," she said.
"I also used to watch Bollywood movies like those of Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol and others," she added.
She said when she took up boxing, people were talking about it "very negatively".
"Before marriage, is it easier for everyone. But after marriage, the responsibilities increase," she said.
During her address before the interaction, she said, "Now I can say, we have everything. Only we don't have champions. They are not creating new champions, that is what we are lacking."
However, she clarified that she was not blaming the government, the companies or the federation for it.
"I am blaming the athletes. They still have more to learn," she said, adding that she was upset because athletes from the younger generation never approach her.
"They never come to me and ask about my experience. I feel very bad. After I retire whether we will have a champion or not, I don't know," she said.
"Come and ask me about my experience. Boxers those who are in the game, they have ego. Silver, bronze is not enough, they are still young, they will still continue for many years, future is bright," the Olympic bronze-medallist said.
The boxer said she was putting in "100-120 per cent" efforts to win a gold in 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
"This year is very important for me, because we have a qualification round in October-November. I am giving 100-120 per cent for the event," said the 36-year-old athlete.
Mary said it was not easy to maintain the performance after continuously winning the title.
"I have been trying since the beginning. I have kept on trying till the sixth title. It is not easy to maintain the performance," she said.
"To become a world champion once is easy. To become a one-time world champion is very easy. For other Athletes too it is easy, but repeating the performance is very hard," said the star boxer, whose life had inspired the movie 'Mary Kom' starring Priyanka Chopra.
"Many of the athletes in our country or all over the world are suffering because we have every year new young athlete coming up and defeating," she said.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
