The State Government having targeted over 60,000 participants in the programme in Forest Research Institute in Dehradun to be attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mark the International Yoga Day on June 21, the holy city is now abuzz with activities. Rounds of meetings are being held at frantic pace to ensure maximum participation in the mega event from the district. The officials are seen desperately contacting the educational institutions and the industrial units based in SIIDCUl and Haridwar to manage the number. Giving some relief to the tense administration, Patanjali Yog Peeth has assured participation of 10,000 yoga practitioners who would perform multiple asanas in the presence of Prime Minister on the occasion.
In response to last week’s meeting chaired by the tourism secretary and CEO, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Dilip Jawalkar, the industrial associations have raised issues like transport arrangements and possibility of its effect on production. Things are yet to be resolved, just ten days left for the event.
It is learnt that the programme would start at 7 am and continue till 7.45 am and two rehearsals would precede the event on June 18 and 19, say the officials.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the District Magistrate Deepak Rawat said that the response they are getting from the local yoga exponents is good. “ They have begun training sessions in the local parks. Aside from the one slated in Dehradun, programmes would also be held at district headquarters, blocks and gram panchayats level to mark the occasion,” he added.
The SIDCUl regional manager Haridwar H R Nautiyal said that their participation target has been fixed at 17500 people. “During today’s meeting held in the SIIDCUl office, participation of nearly 8000 has been confirmed. However, the administration would have to make transportation arrangements to ferry them to the venue,” he said.
However, given the present state of things, it seems unlikely that the participation figure from SIIDCUl would exceed 3500. There are just three industrial associations in the SIIDCUl area. Wipro has confirmed 150, ITC 200, HUl 400, Akums 500, Hero Group 1000, Rockman 300, Halonix 150, Kirby 150, Mahindra 200, SBl 100 and Alps 250, as per the functionaries of the SIIDCUl Industrial Association.
However, when quizzed over the matter, president of SIIDCUl Manufacturers Association, Harendra Garg said that they would send nearly 8000 participants from SIIDCUl here. “The figure would exceed 12000 when those from luxor and Bhagwanpur industrial area are added,” he said.
Speaking of the same issue, president of SIIDCUl Industrial Association Arun Saraswat said that they have demanded support from the district administration on transport, shelter for the participants in Dehradun for June 20 night and offline registration. “The district administration says that the participants must reach the FRI at 5 am. It means that we have to start from Haridwar at around 3 am. This is not practical,” he said.
The industrialists based in SIIDCUl said that the administration must ensure that the participants going from here are provided with transport, breakfast and suitable places to fresh up before they start for the venue. The administration is yet to rise up to the challenge, they added.