Shimla (PTI): To promote physical fitness among students, the Himachal Pradesh government has launched a special drive to introduce yoga in schools across the hill state.

Education Minister I D Dhiman launched yoga programme in 376 government schools of the state in the first phase on Tuesday at Solan.

As part of the agreement reached with yoga guru Swami Ramdev's Patanjali Yoga Peeth and Ravishankar's Art of Living, trainers of the two leading institutions would help students exercise yoga for one hour daily, Dhiman said on Wednesday.

The HP education minister said that more teachers would be sent to the two institutions for training to cover more schools.

Yoga would be introduced in all the schools in a phased manner within an year or two, Dhiman added.

Dwelling on the importance of yoga, the minister said it would help the student keep physically fit and also promote spiritual strength in them. A total of Rs 52 lakh would be spent on yoga education in the current financial year, he added.

Dhiman said introduction of yoga in schools formed part of the BJP's election manifesto in HP.

He said the subject would be included in the school syllabus in all probability from the next academic session.