Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a mass Yoga event at the Mysuru Palace grounds in Karnataka on the International Day of Yoga on June 21, Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Friday.
He will join 15,000 yoga enthusiasts who will participate in the event, Sonowal said. The programme is being held in physical mode after a gap of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The theme for this year's IDY celebrations is 'Yoga for Humanity' and around 25 crore people across the world are expected to participate in various events, doing yoga in unison towards better health and wellness for all, Sonowal said addressing the media.
To ensure the grand scale celebrations of the Yoga Day, the PM had written a letter in Hindi to all the sarpanchs or gram pradhans on May 6.
Sonowal said the Ayush Secretary has requested all the chief secretaries of the states and UTs to facilitate a translation of the PM’s letter in the local or regional language of the state and get it delivered to gram pradhans through the district collectors.
A URL of the letter also has been delivered to the gram pradhans by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj via SMS, he said. Sonowal said that a flagship programme in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs is being organised for a mass Yoga Protocol world over on IDY 2022 following the movement of the Sun.
"The programme will commence at 3 AM IST and would continue till 10 PM. Starting in Fiji, Brisbane, Australia and New Zealand, it will end in San Francisco, USA and Toronto, Canada,” he said.
“Seventy-nine Countries and United Nations’ organisations are onboard for the programme with full-hearted support of Indian missions abroad. The programme will be telecast live on DD India for 16 time zones," Sonowal said.
The minister said that mass Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) demonstrations will be conducted at 75 iconic locations branding/showcasing India through IDY activities. This programme would be part of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
The programme will include a digital exhibition in Dasara Ground, Mysuru on June 21 and 22 to showcase a ‘state of the art’ development in Yoga. "An interactive feature of doing Yoga with PM is also provided, wherein anyone can perform virtually Yoga with animated videos of PM and can take virtual selfie with the PM.
“In addition, through an interactive tool the concentration level of an individual can be checked. Further, a static exhibition covering all Ayush streams and Yoga start-up is also organised," the minister said.
The Ministry of Ayush in coordination with different Yoga organisations is holding CYP demonstrations at over 100 places in Delhi in sync with the main event led by Prime Minister, Sonowal said.
The Ayush ministry is also employing digital and other platforms created for this purpose. Yoga portal and Namaste app are being used for registration of participants, organisations, and Yoga Certification Board (YCB) portal for issue of certificate after completion of trainer course, Sonowal said.
In addition, ‘Bhuvan app’, developed with the help of ISRO, would be used for reporting of mass participation, he said. About 1.5 lakh CSCs and 200 community radios are engaged to spread the Yoga awareness to the grassroot level, including remote villages, and “aspirational and backward districts” of the country, the minister said.
"The theme of International Day of Yoga 2022, Yoga for Humanity, means yoga for health of all. Yoga has helped millions to deal with COVID pandemic-induced stress and disorders. Yoga is India's gift to the world. Yoga is an Indian tradition, embraced by the world," Sonowal added.
(With PTI inputs)
