On the National Sports Day, 2019, how many steps during walk has been urged by University Grants Commission for the Students ?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is (3):
The correct option is (3): At least 10000 steps. This recommendation was made by the University Grants Commission (UGC) as part of its support for the national 'Fit India Movement', which was launched on National Sports Day, 2019. The official circular urged all university and college students, along with staff, to target a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. This figure is significant because it is a globally recognized benchmark for maintaining a genuinely active and healthy lifestyle. Achieving this level of daily activity is essential for promoting cardiovascular health, effective weight management, and reducing the risk of numerous lifestyle diseases among the student community. The UGC's goal was to instill this high and widely validated standard of fitness as a daily habit.

The incorrect option is (1):
At least 5000 steps is generally considered to represent a low-to-moderate level of activity, falling short of the recommended threshold for optimal health benefits. While certainly an improvement over a sedentary lifestyle, the 5,000-step target places an individual in the 'somewhat active' category rather than the 'active' category targeted by the national campaign. The 'Fit India Movement' aims for transformative health improvement across the student demographic, and the UGC thus promoted a higher, more impactful goal. Therefore, 5,000 steps, while a good baseline for some, was not the official minimum standard urged by the commission for students.

The incorrect option is (2):
At least 2000 steps is an extremely low figure, essentially indicating a sedentary or inactive lifestyle. This amount of movement is easily accumulated through basic, non-exercise activities in a day, such as walking between classes or rooms. It provides insufficient stimuli to generate meaningful improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular endurance, or overall metabolic health, which were the primary objectives of the UGC's directive. To set a target as low as 2,000 steps would undermine the serious health and fitness goals of a national initiative, making it an inappropriate and ineffective recommendation for the student population.

The incorrect option is (4):
At least 1000 steps represents a near-total absence of physical activity, indicative of a severely sedentary lifestyle. A person would accumulate this number of steps simply moving from a desk to the restroom and back a few times. This level of activity offers virtually no benefit in terms of health or fitness outcomes. Promoting this figure would be counterproductive to the entire mission of the National Sports Day and the *Fit India Movement*, which seeks to combat inactivity and its associated health risks among the youth. The UGC would logically set a much higher, aspirational, and physiologically meaningful standard.