Narendra Modi government working on Yoga modules for officials

NEW DELHI: At a time when corporate houses are setting up gyms on office premises to help their employees stay fit, government officials across the country may get to dip into yoga and pranayam to heal their body and mind. 

Police personnel may be the first to get to practise yoga on a regular basis at work as the department of personnel and training has urged the department of AYUSH, the nodal agency for Ayurveda and other alternative medicines, to work out such plans for government officials. 

The department of AYUSH may start with a pilot of yoga modules for policemen, officials familiar with the matter told ET, adding that the feasibility of running such a programme for a larger government workforce is also being examined. 

“AYUSH department is working on a proposal to introduce yoga among the police forces. Depending on how it goes and after considering other practical aspects, we will mull over scaling it up for other government officials” said an official, requesting not to be named. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been practising yoga for years and raves about its benefits, gave a call for observing International Yoga Day while addressing the UN General Assembly in September. 

The idea has gained momentum, with about 50 countries including the US, China, Canada, Japan, Brazil and South Africa endorsing it till last week by signing up for cosponsorship of a draft resolution which India’s UN mission is preparing to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day. 

Government officials and police forces in the country have a lot to gain from yoga and pranayam if it is institutionalised and made part of their habitual repertoire, said Acharya Balkrishna, co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, part of Patanjali Group of Institutions founded by yoga guru Baba Ramdev. 

“It will not only help the government workforce keep physically fit and mentally agile but also make a positive difference to their attitude and the way they serve the society,” said Balkrishna, citing results of a psychosomatic research Patanjali conducted on lakhs of people of different age groups a few years ago. Particularly for police personnel, who by the very nature of their work are exposed to stressful environment, aggression and violence, yoga and especially pranayam can be the perfect way to de-stress, he added. 

Shortly after the Modi-led government took over, the DoPT had in July held a weeklong yoga camp in a central Delhi neighbourhood for government officials and found the response “very encouraging”. 

It is a matter of pride that our government officials are on their own taking such initiatives to embrace this valuable branch of our heritage, Balkrishna said.