Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will lead the country in performing ancient Indian physical exercise on International Yoga day on June 21 at Chandigarh, thanked nations across the globe for their enthusiasm and support to celebrate the discipline.
In a video posted on his Twitter account on Sunday, the Prime Minister asserted that when he had outlined a vision for an International Yoga Day in September 2014 at the United Nations General Assembly, he never anticipated the enormous enthusiasm for the occasion from all corners of the world.
“The reverberations of the discipline found a natural home at the UN Headquarters in New York where the journey began. I was fortunate to celebrate the event along with 30,000 of my fellow citizens and foreign guests in New Delhi.
“As so many of you have already discovered, yoga is much more than physical exercise. It enables us to access a new dimension of our self. Even while providing a holistic approach to preventive health care, yoga helps us to restore balance and furnishes us with a much need sense of clarity,” the Prime Minister said.
Asserting that India, through yoga, seeks completeness and at the same time a oneness with the worlds, Prime Minister said all everyone across the world are ambassadors of Yoga, taking India’s message out to the world.
“I thank you for your commitment and welcome you as sister’s and brother of India’s family,” he added. While Modi will be a role model for thousands at Chandigarh on the D-day, as many as 57 Union Ministers will spread across the country for the 2nd International Yoga Day
programmes.
According to sources, as many 57 ministers will be leading various programmes hosted by the Government across the country during the mega event. Ten of them will concentrate in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to participate in these events.
June 21 was declared as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2014. Over 190 countries, including 40 Islamic nations, supported the move to have a special day for yoga.
Following this, the first International Yoga Day was observed across the world on June 21 last year with Modi performing yoga along with 36,000 people at the Delhi’s historic Rajpath.
The 57 Ministers who have been assigned the task of leading this year’s programme include Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and HRD Minister Smriti Irani, among others.
Significantly, some 10 Ministers including Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Maneka Gandhi have been lined up for poll-bound Uttar Pradesh to lead these programmes.
The series of programmes this year include mass yoga events, workshops and
seminars.
Singh and Jaitley have been assigned the task of leading the 2nd IYD programmes in lucknow and Mumbai
respectively.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has been assigned to lead a programme in Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, while Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is expected to participate in Kanpur.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu is likely to participate in a programme in the national capital while Power Minister Piyush Goyal is slated to perform Yoga with others in Raipur. Health Minister JP Nadda has been assigned Ahmedabad for the purpose.
As many as 10,000 people will be participating in the celebrations in the national capital on June 21 in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).