PM Modi Mentions India's "Mini Brazil" In Mann Ki Baat Over "Football Kranti"

Now, with the Football Kranti programme is on in full swing, more than 1,200 clubs have formed in the Shahdol district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took to his monthly platform, Mann Ki Baat, to spread the message of football, more specifically, that of a small town in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol district, called Bicharpur, that has transformed itself from a hotbed of illicit liquor and narcotics to a "Mini Brazil".  मध्य प्रदेश के शहडोल में फुटबॉल क्रांति नाम के एक कार्यक्रम ने यहां के युवाओं की जिंदगी बदल दी है। इसने न सिर्फ उन्हें नशे के चंगुल से बाहर निकाला है, बल्कि देश को कई प्रतिभावान खिलाड़ी भी दिए हैं। pic.twitter.com/AVSeAVcTs2

The PM said on Mann Ki Baat as quoted by an All India Football Federation (AIFF) press release, "This is the inspiring journey of Mini Brazil. You must be thinking that from where Mini Brazil came in Madhya Pradesh, well, that is the twist. In MP, Bicharpur is a village in Shahdol. Bicharpur is called Mini Brazil. 'Mini Brazil', since, today this village has become a stronghold of the rising stars of football. When I had gone to Shahdol a few weeks ago, I met many such football players there. I felt that our countrymen and especially our young friends must know about this."

"The journey of Bicharpur village to become Mini Brazil commenced two-and-a-half decades ago. During that time, Bicharpur village was infamous for illicit liquor. it was in the grip of intoxication. The biggest brunt of this kind of environment was being borne by the youth here," he further said.