A day after launching the ‘Fit India movement’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  on Friday said that  Ayush and Yoga were its strong pillars even as he attributed his health to Yoga, Pranayama and Ayurveda.

Addressing a programme on Ayush and Yoga here, he said that there are “professional hazards” related to politics in terms of health, which are to be taken care of with the help of Naturopathy and Yoga.

The Prime Minister said that to transform the healthcare system of the country and to develop a healthy society, there is a need to think holistically and integrate the traditional and modern medicines for sustainable development and better health solutions.

The Prime Minister said that the government has set a target of setting up Rs  1.5 lakh health and wellness centres  across the country  of which 12,500 will  be AYUSH centres.  Four thousand such centres will be established this year itself, he said.

The main focus of these centres will be empowering the community for self care by imbibing AYUSH based healthy food and lifestyle, social behaviour and use of medicinal plants for primary health care.

He also gave away Yoga Awards to the winners for Outstanding Contribution for Promotion and Development of Yoga in New Delhi and expressed happiness that ‘Sowa - Rigpa’ has become the sixth member of the AYUSH family after Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy.

Pitching for linking technology with tradition in the practice of Ayush medicine, Modi also stressed for the need to create a homogenous system by creating an “Ayush grid” on the lines of one nation, one tax and one nation, one mobility card. He said this will remove silos in the area of Ayush.

During the ceremony, Modi released 12 commemorative postal stamps to honour eminent scholars, practitioners and Great Master Healers of AYUSH Systems. These commemorative postal stamps highlight the great work and acknowledge the achievements of the Great Master Healers of AYUSH Systems.

He also launched ten AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres located in Haryana. He said the government was working towards bringing in more professionals in the field of Ayush and necessary steps are being taken to that effect.

AYUSH Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said that Yoga is an insurance of health for which we don’t have to pay money.

Winners of the year 2019 yoga awards were Swami Rajarshi Muni of Life Mission, Gujarat in  Individual-National category, Ms. Antonietta Rozzi, Italy in Individual-International category, Bihar School of Yoga, Munger,  Bihar in Organisation-National category, and Japan Yoga Niketan, Japan in  Organisation won awards under International Organisation category  while winners of  2018 yoga awards were bagged by Vishwas Mandalik, Nasik, Individual-National category and  the Yoga Institute, Mumbai, Organisation under the National category.