‘Surya Namaskar’ held all over state
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: The Bharatiya Janata Party ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced that “Yoga” would be part of school education curriculum from next academic session in the state. He also announced that January 12, the Vivekanand Jayanti, would also be observed as “Yoga Diwas” from next year.
Chouhan was speaking at the state-level “Surya Namaskar” (sun salutation or paying obeisance to sun) programme organized by School Education Department here at the T. T. Nagar stadium on Saturday to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. The Chief Minister joined the students in performing “Surya Namaskar” and “Pranayams” on the occasion.
Underling the importance of “Surya Namaskar” the Chief Minister said that it is a compact Yoga exercise for physical and mental fitness. Healthy body and mind are a must to do anything good in life. He said that Yoga was evolved by ancient Indian seers for good physical, mental and spiritual health. In view of its importance Madhya Pradesh Government is making all out efforts to promote and popularize it among people, particularly younger generation.
The Chief Minister also inter-acted with the children who participated in the mass “Surya Namaskar”. He enquired from them whether they would adopt it as a regular exercise, the children replied in the affirmative.
Vice President of Madhya Pradesh Jan Abhiyan Parishad Anil Dave, who also performed “Surya Namaskar” with the students, said that it is evoking tremendous voluntary response in the state. This “Yogic” exercise increases body resistance and improves mind. He said that the programme has been organized with the cooperation of Vivekanand Kendra, Kanyakumari.
In the entire state quite a large number of students and other citizens performed “Surya Namaskar” at the same time on the same indications, which is a unique thing feature of this programme.
All the primary channels of All India Radio broadcast the indications for the mass “Surya Namaskar” throughout the state. State Organizer of Vivekanand Kendra Mukul Kanitkar gave commands and instructions for “Surya Namaskar”.
Commissioner, Public Instructions S.N. Mishra proposed a vote of thanks. Commissioner, Public Relations Manoj Shrivastava; Director Sports Sanjay Choudhary and other officers were also present on the occasion amongst others.
The Chief Minister complimented the officials of School Education Department and office-bearers of Vivekanand Kendra and voluntary organizations for successfully organizing the function.
Meanwhile, the state government’s proclamation that it was a voluntary programme, it ensured maximum participation with ministers, MLAs and bureaucrats overseeing that “Surya Namaskar” was held with all seriousness at the district headquarters and other places in the state. It had even issued “Surya Namaskar” guidebook to many institutions.
The mass effort has been criticized at a time the government is under fire for the pathetic state of schools, the high dropout rate and lack of teachers a crisis that came into sharp focus earlier this week when a parent attempted suicide.
It may be recalled that Madhya Pradesh High Court last year in January had granted interim stay when the state government tried to make “Surya Namaskar” compulsory for one and all in the entire state threatening minority educational institutions with derecognition if they failed to follow suite. The interim stay was granted on a Writ Petition filed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India. ([email protected])