Mangaluru (The Hindu): Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), Shripad Yesso Naik on Monday said the government intends to take yoga education to the villages in the coming days.

Speaking after visiting the Subrahmanya Temple at Kukke Subrahmanya in Dakshina Kannada district, Mr. Naik said there would be no compulsion on people to take the training.

Educational institutions

The Minister said that several innovations are being made to inculcate yoga in current education modules and there are plans to open institutions for the same. These institutions would also offer certificates to those who complete prescribed courses. There are plans to introduce yoga education in institutions of higher learning and in universities, along with conventional graduate and undergraduate courses.

Focus on ayurveda

At the same time, special focus would be given to the development of ayurveda and every district would have one ayurvedic hospital. Subsequently, these hospitals would be opened at taluk and village-levels too while ayurveda divisions would be opened in every government primary health centre, Mr. Naik said.

The Minister said that there has been overwhelming positive response towards yoga across the country. While the main celebrations of first International Yoga Day was held at Rajpath in Delhi last year, this year it was held in Chandigarh. As against the capacity of 30,000 at the venue, over one lakh had registered for the programme. This was proof of the growing interest in yoga, he said.

Mr. Naik said yoga has now spread across the globe because of the initiatives in India. Many people believe that yoga can protect one’s health.

Mr. Naik was received by temple’s in-charge executive officer M.H. Ravindra. He performed Naga Pratishtha at the temple before proceeding to Dharmasthala.