Mumbai, Feb 25 (IANS): 'Go Girl Go' campaign, an initiative to strengthen and empower girls of Maharashtra, has received a significant push from state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

At the Shiv Chattrapati Shivaji Award function on Monday, Thackeray said that sports are an integral part of the culture in Maharashtra.

"We should encourage the younger generation to be more active and take care of their fitness level as inactivity caused due to mobile and laptop addiction is a severe health concern."

He further said that sports are a great way to achieve overall fitness and make India proud by winning medals.

State Sports Minister Sunil Kedar said: "Through the campaign we look forward to getting more athletes who can be trained for international competition."

"We would like to gain more prominence at international level. We are scouting talent and will provide the support to achieve more medals in Olympics," said Om Prakash Bakoria, Commissioner of Sports and Youth Services, Maharashtra,

Rishikesh Kumar, CEO, Xtraliving Pvt Ltd. being the knowledge partner, mentioned that the campaign would have a series of events. He also talked about the next event, which is "hunt for the fastest girl in Maharashtra".

He said, "The response to the campaign has been very motivating, and we are excited to take it to the next level."

The final is scheduled to happen on March 8 in Balewadi Sports Complex, Pune. Apart from other events being planned, semi-finals and finals of FIFA U-17 women's football world cup will happen in the city.