Haryana govt to engage yoga volunteers in fitness centres, gymnasiums

In a review meeting of Haryana Yoga Parishad under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, it decided to engage yoga volunteers in fitness centres and gymnasiums being opened in rural areas of the state.

Chandigarh:The Haryana government has decided to engage yoga volunteers in fitness centres and gymnasiums being opened in rural areas of the state.

These yoga volunteers will be appointed by the zila parishads and preference will be given to the youth of the same village or of nearby villages.

This decision, aimed to make yoga an integral part of everyone's life, was taken in a review meeting of Haryana Yoga Parishad held here on Saturday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Chairman of Haryana Yoga Parishad Jaideep Arya gave a presentation on the yoga activities being run in the state and informed other officials about the process of appointing yoga volunteers, an official statement said.

The age limit for these yoga volunteers will be between 18 and 35 years. Candidates must have passed class 12 examination from the Haryana School Education Board or CBSE.

"In addition, they must possess a certification of Level-1 or its equivalent course in yoga from one of the 16 nationally recognised institutes or a one-year diploma from any university,” the statement said.

These yoga volunteers will also be offered a three-month certification course in naturopathy or physiotherapy from Shri Vishwakarma Skill University in Palwal under the Haryana Skill Development Mission.

These certificates will be provided so that after teaching two hours of yoga during morning and evening shifts, they can be employed as AYUSH assistants in the Health and Wellness Centre being maintained by the Department of AYUSH.

"In this way, they will work for eight hours a day and initially they will be given an honorarium of minimum Rs 11,000,” it said.

It was also decided in the meeting that AYUSH coaches will also be appointed in every district under the outsourcing policy to monitor the working of these yoga volunteers till their regular recruitment.

The educational qualification for AYUSH coaches will be the same as prescribed for a yoga coach by the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs.

The chief minister directed the officers to speed up the construction work of yoga centres and gymnasiums being constructed in rural areas.

Khattar was apprised that the construction of 1,000 such gymnasiums is going on in the first phase, out of which 599 have been completed and about 150 are in the final phase of completion. PTI