Forwarded from a friend http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/20/indian-civil-servants-to-get-free-daily-yoga-lessons <http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/20/indian-civil-servants-to-get-free-daily-yoga-lessons> Indian civil servants to get free daily yoga lessons
Classes for officials and their families follows introduction of compulsory yoga for India’s police and defence forces <> PM Narendra Modi (right) with Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, during a yoga festival in New Delhi last year. Photograph: Adnan Abidi / Reuters/REUTERS Jason Burke in Delhi Friday 20 March 2015 The Indian government has announced a strategy to get the country’s much-criticised officials to relax, stay healthy and work more productively: free yoga classes. In what may well be the biggest campaign of physical education based on the ancient Indian discipline ever, Delhi said on Friday it would provide daily yoga lessons to 3 million civil servants and their families. It is unclear whether the classes are to be compulsory but there is likely to be considerable pressure on bureaucrats to attend. Yoga <> is part and parcel of India’s heritage Suneel Singh The move was welcomed by Suneel Singh, a yoga guru in Delhi, who said it would improve the health and thus performance of babus, as civil servants are known. “They will be more in touch with their breathing and their bodies,” Singh said. The prime minister, Narendra Modi <>, is an enthusiastic practitioner of yoga and starts every day with an hour’s exercise. He has created a separate ministry to promote yoga, as well as a range of traditional medicines, and called on the international community to adopt an international yoga day when he addressed the United Nations in New York last year. Officials have already signalled the introduction of compulsory yoga for India’s famously out-of-shape police officers. Shripad Yesso Naik, minister of state for yoga and traditional medicines (ayurveda, naturopathy, unani and homoeopathy), has already announced plans to introduce daily practice sessions <> of the 2,000-year-old discipline for a police officers, paramilitary <> personnel and defence staff <> over the next three to five years. “Training is going on in full swing at the national centre for yoga. If police departments, for instance, ask for 10,000 trainers, they will be provided,” he told reporters. More controversially, senior politicians in India have suggested more widespread practice of yoga could bring down levels of sexual violence <> in the country. “I believe if yoga comes into the life of common people, then the daily incidents of rape, I would not say they will cease to exist, but there will definitely be a decrease in them,” Murli Manohar Joshi, a senior figure in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, said recently. Singh said yoga had long been used by India’s most powerful figures both personally, and to boost the productivity of officialdom. “Yoga is part and parcel of India’s heritage. Many bigshots like [Mahatma] Gandhi have been doing it,” he said. ===================================================== http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/free-yoga-classes-for-31-lakh-government-employees-and-their-families-748271 <http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/free-yoga-classes-for-31-lakh-government-employees-and-their-families-748271> Free Yoga Classes for 31 Lakh Government Employees and Their Families All India <> | Press Trust of India <> | Updated: March 20, 2015 15:53 IST Ads by Google <https://www.google.com/url?ct=abg&q=https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py%3Fcontact%3Dabg_afc%26url%3Dhttp://www.ndtv.com/india-news/free-yoga-classes-for-31-lakh-government-employees-and-their-families-748271%26gl%3DIN%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dca-pub-7641565019577886%26ai0%3DCyHABbtUPVYKKGIefuASz4YHQDpyuqKwG3KO-5vYBx8mivcABEAEg7JuJBmDl6ueD0A7IAQGpAqRdT1oqPFE-qAMBqgTOAU_Q3LgaoFYHTNy2B3f3RMeLg5rZgouS_eUj3zuZQfzA3_Kf1EJFmpV2-JTRZccNLEfhBB0rFyeUzK73fgLr2cCpBps-1dUGs-PhJrLkH01oNb6tB3ggq4P1XP4nRSa_3MDS0_8jqB0LL_5TDCjCrLVN_pk0LSgKYOsRVlPsoUpdi25jNS8SVpGCbY9rD_w4EYaKFHAn-bDNKDUDtT3Ac7Qtjfgl-swBH2KcfKFUPCbyVF1Vn3Q6F-GL4ks9S4uxi_LsVx4iFbzCnakZ4qJ6gAfchuU12AcB&usg=AFQjCNG5QX89LuA_rbUzTMTEZkjcXBP2_g> Do You Want To Stay Fit <> – Practice 5 Simple Yoga Asanas Beat Stress. Stay Fit. Stay Relaxed <>askmeonwellness.com <http://askmeonwellness.com/> New Delhi: Yoga classes will be held for central government employees and their dependants across the country from next month onwards. "The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is organising regular Yoga training sessions from April 1, 2015 for the benefits of central government employees and their dependents," an official order issued today said. The sessions will be held all days except Sundays or gazetted holidays at Grih Kalyan Kendra, Samaj Sadan in association with Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga in Delhi. "No registration or training fees will be charged," it said. There are about 31 lakh central government employees working across the country. The central government has been emphasising on popularising use of traditional medicine and yoga among others. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last year in his speech, at the United Nations in the US, appealed to the international community to adopt an International Yoga Day. Following which, the United National General Assembly had in December last declared June 21 as the International Yoga Day. The DoPT is also organising a two-day workshop for senior bureaucrats to help them learn stress management techniques. The workshop, scheduled to begin from March 28, is being organised for officers working in the DoPT and the Cabinet Secretariat in Delhi. The DoPT deals with works related to personnel matters of central government employees and anti-corruption initiatives like Lokpal and others while Cabinet Secretariat provides secretarial assistance to cabinet and cabinet committees.
