Yoga will be compulsory in all schools and colleges

Pousha Shuddha Chaturdashi

Chennai: Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss has indicated the Union government plans to make the practice of yoga compulsory in all schools and colleges in the country. Dr Ramadoss made this announcement at a seminar on "Disease control priorities in India," which was organized by the D G Vaishnav College in Chennai.

The ancient Indian art of yoga is touted to have multiple benefits including reducing the risk of lifestyle diseases like blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Dr Ramadoss said yoga would help students stay healthy and also inculcate in them healthy lifestyle practices.

At the seminar, he also stressed on the need to tackle the scrouge of tobacco and alcohol consumption. He also said the ban on smoking in public places was primarily aimed at protecting the health of the consumers.

Touching on the fracas of the polio immunization programme where parents stayed away due to media hype over a reaction from the vaccine, Ramadoss urged the people not to fall a prey to sensational reporting.

Coming back to yoga, it is really debatable if schools can take up the program on an intense level. The practice of yoga requires special instructors and while there is not doubt it is a healthy practice, there are concerns whether the program is practically implementable in schools today.

Yoga has many postures that are specific to each body part like the neck shoulder, arm, waist and even the abdomen. Pranayam or breathing exercises to regulate blood pressure and digestive processes are also available.

Students can definitely benefit from practicing these postures, but it remains to be seen if such programs will be welcome in the already burdened government schools.

Source: newslocale.org

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