AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government is gearing up to hold extensive programmes across the State to mark the International Yoga Day on June 21, with Minister for Medical and Health Satya Kumar Yadav chairing a preparatory meeting with AYUSH officials at the department's headquarters here on Monday evening.

Addressing officials at the meeting, Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav directed that awareness about the importance of yoga be deepened among the public at large. He instructed officials to actively involve students, government employees, and members of Yoga associations, Rotary clubs, Lions clubs, and other civil society organisations in the planned events.

The Minister also suggested convening a dedicated meeting with yoga trainers across the State to solicit their inputs on the conduct of the programmes, and emphasised that the activities must build substantively on those held last year.

A State-level event of considerable scale is proposed to be organised in Amaravati under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and officials were asked to prepare proposals accordingly. District-level Yoga Day programmes are to be conducted under the leadership of respective Collectors.

Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav noted that educational institutions are expected to reopen from the second week of June, following the summer vacation, and said that promoting awareness about yoga among students at that stage would yield wide-ranging benefits. He added that such initiatives would also contribute to the realisation of the State government's vision of Swarna Andhra Pradesh.

Report on last year's impact sought

The Minister enquired specifically into the scale and impact of programmes held on the occasion of International Yoga Day last year and directed AYUSH In-charge Commissioner Ronankhi Gopalkrishna to prepare a detailed report on the same.

Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju, State Government Adviser on Yoga and Naturopathy, offered several important suggestions on the precautions and measures needed to effectively build public awareness through yoga and allied programmes.

Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav is expected to hold another round of discussions with officials shortly on the conduct of the Yoga Day events, and will also consult Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on the matter.