New Delhi, July 13 : Former Olympian Ashok Dhyan Chand requested parents to motivate their children to play outdoor games. He added that every child should be aware of the benefits of playing sports. Ashok Dhyan Chand emphasised that children now spend most of their time on TV and mobile phones instead of playing outdoor games. "Today I want to say to all the parents that they should motivate their children to stay away from mobile phones and TV and play outdoor games. Make the child aware of the qualities of sports so that the child will develop physically and mentally. From the very beginning, text material related to sports should be given to the children, and then the children will definitely participate in the games with great enthusiasm," Ashok Dhyan Chand said while attending the Monsoon Session of National Sports Assembly, organised at the IMT Ghaziabad on Wednesday. Another former hockey great Zafar Iqbal said that it is necessary for the children to play as much as they read. "Instead of emphasizing only on studies, emphasize on playing along with studies," he said. Zafar Iqbal said that various important proposals were discussed in Sports Assembly. "The Central Government and the State Governments must take concrete steps on the suggestions received in each of the proposals. At the same time, it has also been seen that the talent of sports in tribal areas does not come out because they lack resources and those idols are not promoted. For this, the government should go to the tribal areas and promote sports culture and develop a system by which the talent of the tribal area should come out," he said. Addressing the assembly, Sports Research Centre, IMT, Dr Kanishk Pandey said that the assembly will send some proposals to the government for the promotion of sports. "The consensus reached should be sent to the Central Government and the State Governments and it should be requested that some concrete action should be taken by the Government on the proposal sent," he said. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Assembly Dr Vishal Talwar informed that IMT Ghaziabad has been working for the development of sports culture for the last many years. /IANS