Sports ministry dispels myth that hockey is national sport in RTI reply, says Centre has not declared a national game

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has said that the Centre has not declared any sport as the ’national game’ of the country. [caption id=“attachment_7709021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The ministry said this in response to an RTI query filed by a school teacher from Dhule district of north Maharashtra. There is a popular perception that hockey is the national sport of India. The RTI query had sought to know when hockey was declared as India’s national game. Mayuresh Agrawal, who teaches in VK Patil International School in Sindkheda tehsil of Dhule district, has received the reply letter from the ministry dated 15 January, 2020. He said he had filed the query after his students asked when hockey was declared as the national game of the country. “The government has not declared any sport/game as the National Game of the country, as the objective of the government is to encourage/promote all popular sports disciplines,” the reply from the ministry stated.