Yoga could be introduced as a subject before June 2015

NEW DELHI: After Sanskrit, it may be yoga's turn. The Modi government's stated emphasis on indigenous subjects for school children could mean the ancient practice may be taught as a subject in all schools.Shripad Naik, India's first 'yoga minister', said he would like yoga to be taught in schools so that the practice is taken up widely and seriously by the younger generations. "If children become habitual to practising yoga from a young age, they are likely to pursue it much beyond their growing-up years. We are seriously thinking about it. A proposal to the HRD (human resources department) will also be sent," he told ET.

Naik, the minister for AYUSH, or traditional remedies, said he will seek Modi's support for the move. The aim is to introduce it in schools before June.

"This will not be an effort to impose anything on students, but to encourage them to take up this practice," Naik clarified. He said yoga and AYUSH practitioners such as Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar will be consulted while drawing up the plans. "Their experience and expertise in this is widely acknowledged. And Baba Ramdevji has himself expressed willingness to help whenever we need him," said Naik.

Tying his idea of popularising yoga in schools and elsewhere with Modi's "Swachh Bharat" campaign, Naik explained that the initiative was not just about a clean India, but also "Swastha Bharat, Balwan Bharat" (healthy and strong India). "Once a person becomes healthy (by practising yoga), it will contribute to a Swastha Bharat and, due to good health, we could create a Balwan Bharat."

Modi is keen on promoting yoga. During his recent his speech at the UN General Assembly, he called for observing an International Yoga Day. Yoga is probably the most successful cultural exports of India, having found takers across the world and becoming a multi-billion-dollar business. Naik is meanwhile also mulling over the implementation of several ideas for making indigenous practices in "preventive care" popular among the masses.

"We have ignored our own systems of preventive care and treatment for a long time. This is why yoga and Ayurveda appear to be more popular in the West, which seems to have understood the true value of these things even if we remain apathetic or not entirely confident in the efficacy of the treatment or its quality," the North Goa MP rued. He emphasised that the focus of his ministry is to take steps to address these issues.

Among the solutions the minister is working on include setting up Ayurveda centres in every village, framing regulations and standardisation of service quality for AYUSH treatment as well as medicines available in the market and imparting training to doctors and traditional healers. Some of these are also likely to be a part of the Rs 5,000-crore National AYUSH Mission, and will contribute towards correcting the impression that such treatments are unscientific and untrustworthy.

Crucially, Naik believes AYUSH treatment — particularly Ayurveda — could one day cure critical diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Therefore, clinical trials and research centres ought to be encouraged, he said. "All-India institutes, where research in AYUSH is done, need to be set up and encouraged. Our administration will do that."