Kolkata – On Sunday, 28 Dec 2025, the Sports Authority of India’s Kolkata Regional Centre hosted the 54th edition of Fit India Sundays on Cycle, drawing a crowd of nearly 1,500 people. Olympians and Arjuna Awardees such as Deepika Kumari, Atanu Das, Joydeep Karmakar, Mangal Singh Champia, Rahul Banerjee, Bombayla Devi Laishram, and Susmita Singha Roy gathered to kick off the year‑end event.
The festivities took on a carnival‑like feel, with cyclists, corporate staff, students, CISF jawans, and employees from a partner insurance firm all lining up to ride. Music, dance, and various fitness drills—including Zumba, folk‑style Bengali music, yoga shows and rope‑skipping demonstrations—kept the energy high despite the winter chill.
During the opening remarks, Padma Shri Deepika Kumari highlighted the importance of daily fitness, noting that “energy and strength are vital not only for sports but also for personal life.” She added that “We have to do this every day and I’m so happy to see over 1500 people join in today.”
Former shooter Joydeep Karmakar stressed how initiatives like Sundays on Cycle help people reduce screen time and build disciplined exercise habits. “A transformation starts with our simple behaviours – everyone here has turned their attention from phones and have become busy with their cycles,” he said. He went on to point out that this year alone, more than 20 lakh participants nationwide joined the movement, and that it will only grow.
Dronacharya Award winner Kuntal Roy expressed gratitude to the Sports Authority of India and the Fit India program, saying that both mental and physical fitness shape a person’s life. “I thank SAI and the Fit India program for this initiative. The concept of fitness is the key of life. Mental and physical fitness rules our whole life. Therefore, we have to keep ourselves fit through various programs on fitness like Sundays on Cycle,” the former SAI athletics chief coach remarked.
Ten local cycling clubs and state champions received recognition during the celebration, including Fit India ambassadors Kanthi Dutt, Garima Diwakar, Manas Saha and Raima Majumder.
While Kolkata hosted the main event, the campaign ran concurrently at 10,000 venues across India, from SAI training centres in Ludhiana, Rajnandgaon, Dharamsala, Kokrajhar, Hazaribagh and Golaghat to Khelo India hubs. In Bikaner, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal joined the cycle rally.
Fit India Sundays on Cycle, launched in December 2024 by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya, has evolved into a people‑centric movement that encourages weekly fitness and promotes cleaner, greener transport. Up to now, more than 20 lakh individuals have taken part in over 2 lakh locations across the country. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in partnership with the Cycling Federation of India (CFI), Yogasana Bharat and MY Bharat, continues to organise the programme.
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