IYD 2020 celebrations to go online, Yoga imperative to promote public health and build immunity: B.V.R. Subrahmanyam

Jammu : Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam, today chaired a meeting to review the preparations being put in place to celebrate International Day of Yoga on 21st June, 2020.Highlighting the importance of Yoga in boosting immunity and lowering stress, Chief Secretary directed department of AYUSH to encourage people to practice Yoga at homes especially during the stressful time of COVID pandemic. He also laid stress on undertaking massive campaign to publicise the events and activities related to the International Yoga Day in electronic, print and social media.The Chief Secretary maintained that complying with social distancing norms and other guidelines of the Government, the International Yoga Day this year will be celebrated at home with family. “The services of TV channels and digital media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter be utilized to facilitate online participation of people practicing Yoga”, he added. For this, the department of ISM was asked to prepare 15 minutes module for displaying on television channels and social media to assist the participants’ training in the run up to the Yoga day when they can join others through online platforms.
He directed Secretary of School Education Department to organise online competitions for students at district level in which participants will upload a 30 second video clip on importance/ performance of Yoga. To further encourage students for online participation, it was decided that the winners in each district will be awarded with android based electronic tablets. Similar competitions will be organised by the Higher Education Department, he instructed.Department of Technical Education was also directed to organise a ten days online course to train people in various dimensions of Yoga including Pranayam and diverse Asanas which can be easily adopted by the majority of people irrespective of age and gender differences.The Youth Services and Sports Department was asked to engage its staff in promotion of Yoga activities and celebration of the International Yoga Day, 2020.Administrative Secretaries of department of Health, School Education and Higher Education, Director, Indian Systems of Medicine (AYUSH) among others participated in the meeting.