This time, Surya Namaskar is voluntary

This time the Government has announced that participation is voluntary and the Surya Namaskar will be performed to numerals and not to accompanying shlokas. Students up to Standard IV will not participate in the event but will be allowed to watch it.

A meeting chaired by Education Minister Laxman Singh Gaud reviewed the preparations for the programme to be organised on the occasion of Swami Vivekananda8217;s birth anniversary. It will be held simultaneously across the state at 9 am. Besides school and college students and teachers, efforts will be made to involve people from other walks of life as well. Like last year, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will take part in the event.

Voluntary organisations, sports organisations, health clubs, Yoga centres, morning-walkers, parents8217; bodies, panchayat and cooperative institutions, former soldiers and organisations like the NCC and NSS have been contacted ahead of the event.

Vice-chairman of Jan Abhiyan Parishad Anil Dave said the idea behind the event was to convey health benefits that accrue from Yoga, and to ensure that it was not lost in rituals.