The Hindu : New Delhi News : Yoga new magic mantra of Delhi Government

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 28, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Yoga new magic mantra of Delhi Government

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: : Taking yet another step to improve the quality of life for the Capital's citizens and make them aware of the positive impact of the traditional health care system, the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation Limited on Wednesday launched a "Yoga Health Plan'' for citizens in various public parks across the city.

The first such programme was inaugurated by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, at Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri on Wednesday morning. Also present on the occasion was Delhi's Education and Tourism Minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely, and the DTTDC Managing Director, Ramesh Negi. The DTTDC has been in the forefront of making life easier for the Capital's citizens by taking up some major infrastructure projects. However, it has decided to chart a different course this time round and has joined hands with the Education Department to impart yoga training to the people of Delhi free of charge in the various parks during morning hours. According to Mr. Lovely, during the first phase of the programme training would be imparted to the public in parks of Ashok Vihar, Hauz Rani, Preet Vihar, Punjabi Bagh, Ajmal Khan Park and Shahdara Lake. The DTTDC, which has often been labelled as an outfit promoting liquor and constructing flyovers, has taken this cautious decision to send across a message that it cares for the general health of the citizens and would like to touch their daily lives. This experiment, if proved successful, would be promoted on a large scale across the Capital and the Department would not hesitate to tie up with the Residents' Welfare Associations so that this project could be taken up for implementation under the "Bhagidari'' scheme, he added.

Lifestyles

Mr. Lovely said the programme was conceptualised after getting the approval of the Chief Minister and promised to take up more such public utility projects in future. He said the yoga teachers of the Education Department were well trained and had won various medals in international and domestic championships on Yoga.

These experts would be teaching the people the finer points of yoga every day and what kind of impact it has on the daily life of the citizens, their lifestyles and the health problems faced by them. These experts would also touch upon the various physical and psychological issues faced by the people and help them find solutions with this traditional source of meditation. The yoga classes would be held six days a week, barring Sundays.

Stating that he expected an enthusiastic response from the people to this new initiative of the Delhi Government, Mr. Lovely said this facility would be extended to various parts of the city during the second phase. Acknowledging that many other institutions were also providing yoga training free of cost in large number of parks of the city, the Education Minister said the new exercise was aimed at supplementing their effort.

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