Chandigarh, June 21: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said that yoga has been included in school curriculum for classes 1 to 10 from the current academic session. He was addressing an event here on the occasion of the International Yoga Day.

"...We have included yoga in school curriculum from this year for Classes 1 to 10 so that children make it a part of their daily lives," Khattar said. "Like we need oxygen, food and water, likewise, to keep the body healthy yoga has its own importance. To inculcate the habit of practising yoga and to make it a part of students' lives since childhood, we have decided to include it in school curriculum from this year," he added.

In December, the Haryana government had announced that yoga would be included as a separate subject in all government schools from the next academic session. An official statement had earlier said the curriculum for yoga would be designed in such a way that it would have both theoretical and practical content on the pattern of physical education. International Yoga Day 2021: ITBP Personnel, Deployed at India-China Border, Perform Yoga at Icy Height of 18,000 Feet in Ladakh (Watch Video).

Khattar said the state government's aim was to take yoga to the grassroot level and encourage people to make it a part of their lifestyle.

For this, 'vyayamshalas' (gyms) and other adequate infrastructure was being made available at the village level. "We have decided to set up yoga and 'vyamshalas' in 1,000 villages. So far, these have been set up in 550 villages and work is going on in the rest. One thousand yoga trainers and 22 yoga coaches will also be appointed," he said.

On the events being held across the state on the occasion of International Yoga Day, he said programmes were being conducted at 1,100 places in all 22 districts, with 50 participants taking part at each venue by following Covid protocols.

Meanwhile, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij took part in an event organized at Ambala. Speaking at an event in Panchkula, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said, "We should perform yoga daily to stay fit and healthy."