Yoga Day: Over 1 lakh programmes, 10 mega events to mark the occasion

On 19 June, union minister Jitendra Singh, who also holds the youth affairs and sports portfolio, said his department and all the affiliated youth wings will be actively involved in organising over one lakh yoga programmes on the occasion of 'International Yoga Day' on 21 June.

Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), in collaboration with over a dozen social organisations, will hold 1,00,260 yoga programmes at different centres across the country. Out of this, 10 regional level mega events will be hosted in Varanasi, Imphal, Jammu,Vadodara, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Bhubaneshwar, Shimla and Hoshiarpur.

The main programme will be held at Chandigarh which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Singh said that the "Department of Youth Affairs and all the affiliated youth wings have perhaps, for the first time, undertaken such a grand initiative to engage largest possible sections of population across the length and breadth of India, on a single day for a single theme".

Elaborating further, Singh said while more than 1,00,000 yoga programmes will be held across the country, as many as 250 such programmes will be held at district headquarters and around 1,00,000 yoga programmes at village level with the collaboration of local youth clubs there.

In addition, Singh informed that his ministry will be organising yoga day programmes in 391 universities, 16000 colleges and 12000 schools across the country.