Uttarakhand not to be part of Yoga Day celebration: Harish Rawat

Dehradun, Jun 17: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the state will not officially be part of the International Yoga Day celebrations slated for June 21 terming the event as a "propagandist exercise".

"We won't be part of the International Yoga Day celebrations as we are not interested in drum-beating about it," Rawat told reporters here.

However, the Chief Minister said the state government was strongly in favour of promoting the ancient Indian discipline of physical and mental well-being and has its own plans for it.

"Though not interested in any drum-beating about it we will soon come up with a detailed action plan for the promotion of yoga from September onwards," he said.

Terming the event as a mere "propaganda", he said those keen to celebrate the event on a big scale are not as interested in yoga as in promoting their own interests.

Uttarakhand may not officially be part of the celebrations but Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar and other organisations of saints and seers based in the city and neighbouring Rishikesh have plans to celebrate the occasion in a big way and make it a success.

A report from Haridwar said all the campuses of Patanjali Yogpeeth will hold yogic exercise sessions from 7 AM to 7.35 PM to mark the event. Five venues have been selected where programmes to mark the occasion will be held, Acharya Balkrishna told reporters in Haridwar.

Programmes will be held on Patanjali campuses in accordance with the 'International Yoga Day Common Yoga Practice Protocol', he said.

Meanwhile, a release from Raj Bhawan said a yoga training programme is underway on its premises since yesterday in which secretary to the Governor and all other officials and staff of Raj Bhavan are participating voluntarily after office hours.

The programme is being conducted for an hour (5.15 to 6.15 pm) under the guidance of a yoga teacher, it said.

"This programme will be held on a larger scale on the lush green campus of Raj Bhavan from 6.30 to 7. 30 AM on June 21 on the occasion of International Yoga Day," the release added.

PTI