PM To Lead 30,000 Yoga Enthusiasts In The Main Event Of 5th IDY At Ranchi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the main event of International Day of Yoga 2019 celebrations to be held at Prabhat Tara, Ranchi, Jharkhand on 21^st June, 2019. Approximately 30,000 people are expected to participate in the main event. On 13^th June, there will be a Curtain raiser to the main event at Ranchi, which will be attended by several State Dignitaries, besides the Yoga Organisations and Yoga Gurus.

Ministry of AYUSH is the nodal Ministry for observation of International Day of Yoga across the country. The ministry has successfully organized several programmes during the last four years in connection with IDY. This year also several small and big events are being planned on the occasion of IDY.  

Ministry has requested the stake-holding Ministries and Departments of the Central Government, State Governments and other related institutions to work in a coordinated manner to observe the International Day of Yoga (IDY) on 21^st June 2019, in accordance with national priorities, in order to secure long term gains in the area of public health and well-being. Taking note of the immense and well-documented rewards of Yoga for holistic health and well-being of the population, most of the stake-holding Ministries and Departments, State Governments and other institutions have initiated activities to make the observation of IDY well participated event. Industry bodies like CII, FICCI, Institute of Company Secretary, as well as educational bodies like CBSE, NCERT, UGC, DAV etc. have already rolled out various programmes in preparation of IDY.

In addition to this, the Ministry is encouraging all individuals and institutions - including educational institutions, government bodies, business firms, industries and cultural organizations – to join IDY for the benefit of their employees, members or other stake-holders.

The thrust of the IDY observation on 21^st June is on harmonious mass Yoga demonstrations, in which millions of people participate, at thousands of venues. To ensure that the Yoga demonstrations of such large groups take place in a harmonious fashion, some of the most accomplished yoga gurus of India came together and developed the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP). This is essentially a specified sequence of Yoga Asanas of 45 minutes’ duration. CYP has been designed keeping people of different age-groups and of varied walks of life in mind. It is also expected that those who get trained in CYP are likely to develop a taste and attitude for yoga, and hence may pursue it in the long term. Free video and e-book giving details of CYP are available for download from the Ministry of AYUSH website. The Ministry is also distributing these through various partnering organizations.

Preparatory activities for IDY 2019 undertaken by ministry of AYUSH:

1. The Ministry initiated country-wide mobilization for taking up appropriate and specific activities for observation of IDY through a series of communications to identified stake-holding organisations from the Minister, Secretary (AYUSH) and other functionaries. Through these communications, the different Central Ministries and Departments, State Governments, Gram Pradhans (of about 2.5 lakh villages), Yoga institutions, Educational Institutions, Chambers of Commerce, Municipal Bodies etc. were addressed. All these stake-holding agencies were sensitized on IDY and were provided with suggested lists of activities, customized to the nature of the agency. Responses have been coming in, indicating that various preparatory activities are already taking place.
2. The Ministry drew up a comprehensive media plan covering print, electronic and outdoor publicity options.
3. A series of review meetings were held to ensure that there is cohesion among all the activities organized by different agencies. These include the meeting of an Inter-Ministerial Committee on IDY chaired by Secretary (AYUSH) and separate meetings convened by the Ministry with Educational Institutions, Industry Organizations and other stake-holders.
4. The count-down also incorporates a sustained campaign through social media platforms. The newly re-vamped and interactive IDY Portal of the Ministry is also being used to good effect to provide relevant and accurate information to the public.
5. Yogalocator – Mobile Application for uploading details of Yoga trainers, Centers and free events (with a disclaimer for information) and facility of navigation for public.
6. Bhuvan App-Mobile Application to report detail information of location, participants, organizer, instructor and volunteer of Yoga event celebrated on IDY 2019.
7. Initiatives with CSC -Broadcasting of video from 20,000 centers (target population- 40 lakhs) and sensitization of volunteers for use of Bhuvan app.
8. Yoga goes Green- This year Ministry is promoting usage of eco-friendly Yoga products. Since PVC and synthetic based accessories are hazardous and non perishable, the public needs to be sensitized and motivated to use eco-friendly products.

Prime Minister’s Yoga Awards

One of the highlights of IDY observation in India is the announcement of the Prime Minister’s Yoga Awards. The awards are being given away each year for exemplary contribution towards the development and promotion of Yoga. There are four awards to be given away in two categories:

• Prime Minister’s award for outstanding contribution towards promotion and development of Yoga at National Level (2 Nos), and
• Prime Minister’s award for outstanding contribution towards promotion and development of Yoga at International Level (2 Nos)

The Ministry received about 200 nominations/ applications for the same this year, and these are being processed in accordance with the laid down procedure.