Chandigarh: At a time when the Haryana government is making an all out effort to make yoga part of the school curriculum, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday announced cabinet-rank status for yoga guru Ramdev, who is the state's brand ambassador.
Khattar said Ramdev, who is authorized to promote yoga and ayurveda in the state, would be given the status of cabinet minister, and a function would be held at Panchkula on April 21 to honour him.
Asked whether Ramdev, who had in January this year declined the Padma Bhushan, would accept the cabinet status, the yoga guru's spokesman SK Tijarawala said, “Swamiji is away in Australia and can't be reached at the moment. He will give his reaction after two days.“
Presiding over a meeting on International Yoga Day celebrations in Chandigarh, Khattar said discussions would be held with Ramdev for making Yoga Day successful. The government will celebrate the occasion in a big way in Karnal on June 21, with 21,000 youngsters expected to participate. Haryana sports minister Anil Vij said programmes would be held in all district headquarters.
Yoga is going to be a compulsory subject in Haryana's schools and `yogshalas' will come up in all the towns and 6,500 villages of the state.
The Haryana government is also making all-out efforts to make Bhagwad Gita part of the school curriculum.
