The Union Home Ministry has directed the Central paramilitary forces to celebrate the eighth International Yoga Day on June 21 at 75 iconic locations across the
country.
The Ministry has nominated the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) as the nodal agency for coordination with other paramilitary forces like the Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard and Assam Rifles. The theme of the event will be “Yoga for Humanity.”
“All the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs or the paramilitary forces), Assam Rifles and NSG and their respective field formations will actively take part in the celebrations in 75 iconic sites/locations to celebrate 8th IDY-2022 on June 21, 2022.
Accordingly, you are requested to issue timely directions to your respective field formation under your command for active participation at these iconic sites falling in their respective area of responsibility so as to make this event a grand success,” reads an order issued on Saturday by the Nodal Officer of the CRPF.
The order further said strict observance of the Covid-19 protocol must be ensured during the event.
The iconic locations selected by the Union Home Ministry include Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Rushikonda Beach, Visakhapatnam, Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, Nalanda Mahavihara, Nalanda, Rock Garden, Chandigarh, Diu Fort, Daman and Diu, Jantar Mantar and Red Fort in New Delhi, Churches and Convents of Goa, Statue of Unity, Kevadia, Gujarat, Dholavira, Kutch, Gujarat and Atal Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh among others.
The other iconic locations are Golden Pagoda, Namsal, Andhra Pradesh, Rangghar, Sibsagar, Assam, Bhoramdeo Temple, Chouragaon, Kabirdham district, Chhattisgarh, Lotus Temple, Bahapur, Delhi, Fort Agoda, Goa, Modhera Sun Temple, Gujarat, Sabarmati River Front, Gujarat, Kurukshetra, Haryana, Rakhigarhi, Hisar, Haryana, Kangra Fort, Nalagarh Palace and Parashar Lake in Himachal Pradesh, Suchetgarh Border, Jammu, SKICC, Dal Lake, Srinagar, Martand Sun Temple, Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, Ranchi, Jharkhand, Group of Monuments at Hampi, Karnataka, Group of Monuments at Pattadakal, Karnataka, Halebeedu, Karnataka and Gol Gumbaz, Vijaypura, Karnataka.
The selected locations in Kerala are Kochi Fort, Kochi City of Ernakulam district, Shivanand Ashram, and Padmanabham Swamy Temple.
Likewise, Pangong Lake, Leh and Kargil in Ladakh have also been shortlisted for the celebration of Yoga Day.
The Bangaram Island has also made it to the shortlist.
The Fort Gwalior and Maa Narmada Ugamsthan, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Tryambakeshwar Temple, Nasik, Zero Milestone, Nagpur, Marine Drive, Mumbai and Phugewadi Metro station, Pune in Maharashtra have also been selected for the celebrations.
In the Northeast, Loktak Lake, Bishnupur, Manipur, Mawlynnong (Cleanest Village) in Meghalaya, Thenzewal (Serchhip), Mizoram and Kisama village, Kohima, Nagaland besides Neermahal Palace, Sepahijala in Tripura have made it to the list of iconic locations for the event.
In Uttar Pradesh, Ayodhya, Fatehpur Sikri, Hastinapur, Meerut and Kushinagar Buddhist Temple, Sarnath/Ghats, Varanasi made it to the list. In Odisha, Jagannath Temple, Puri, Tampara Lake, Ganjam and Sun Temple, Konark, and Puri district find mentioned in the list.
The Beach Promenade in Puducherry, Wagah Border in Punjab and Enchey Monastery Sikkim have also been shortlisted.
Hill Forts of Rajasthan, Kumbhalgarh, Sam Sand Dunes, Jaisalmer and Jantar Mantar, Jaipur have made it to the list.
Vivekananda Rock Memorial, Kanyakumari, The Great Living Chola Temple, Thanjavur and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu and Anand Sagar Lake, Hyderabad in Telangana have been selected for the Yoga Day celebrations.
Harki Paudi, Haridwar, Kedarnath Temple, Rudraprayag and Nainital in Uttarakhand and Mountain Railway of India (Darjeeling Himalayan Railways) Batasia Loop Darjeeling and Shantiniketan (Bolpur town)/Belurmath in West Bengal find mention in the list.
According to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Home Ministry, Cabinet Minister and Minister of State will attend the event at each of the iconic sites.
While Union Home Minister Amit Shah will take part in the celebrations at Tryambakeshwar Temple in Nashik, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will attend the event at Lotus Temple in Delhi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will mark her presence at the Jantar Mantar monument here, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri will be present at the Red Fort Complex here, Minister of Sports, Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur will attend the event at Nalagarh Palace in Solan, Himachal Pradesh and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi will attend the event at Group of Monuments at Hampi.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will mark his presence at the Zero Milestone in Nagpur, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal will be there at the Marine Drive on the Yoga Day and Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will celebrate the function at Fatehpur Sikri.