Rawat government does U-turn, U'khand to celebrate yoga day

June 19, 2015 14:14

Withdrawing its decision to stay away from International Yoga Day celebrations, the Uttarakhand government has now decided to officially be a part of the event with Chief Minister Harish Rawat scheduled to inaugurate a state-level yoga workshop here on June 21.

A state-level workshop on yoga will be held at Pavilion Ground in Dehradun on June 21 to mark the occasion where Chief Minister Harish Rawat will be the chief guest, principal secretary, health, Om Prakash said yesterday, adding that the state health minister Surendra Singh Negi will also be present.

At a press conference on June 17, Rawat had termed International Yoga Day as a "propagandist exercise" and has said that there will be no official programme.

"Though not interested in any drum-beating about it, we will soon come up with a detailed action plan for the promotion of yoga from September onwards," he had said.

Though no reason was officially given for the change in stand, according to officials, it could have been done owing to the earlier decision not going down well with people who feel Uttarakhand has an edge over other states when it comes to efforts for yoga promotion and it should not fritter an opportunity to link it with tourism which is the mainstay of its economy.

Haridwar-based institutions like Patanjali Yogpeeth, Shantikunj and Devsanskriti Vishwa Vidyalaya have been doing a lot over the years for the promotion of yoga and have grandiose plans to hold yoga sessions on June 21 to mark the event.

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