‘Over 15k in Delhi have signed up for state govt’s yoga programme’

A Delhi government official said that so far, over 15,200 people from across Delhi have registered for the yoga classes and currently, around 9,500 people are getting trained in yoga everyday.

The Delhi government’s ‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’, an initiative to provide free yoga training on demand in neighbourhoods has seen over 15,000 enrolments since its launch in December last year, with over 9,500 people availing the service in different parts of Delhi everyday.

‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’ has seen over 15,000 enrolments since its launch in December last year (ANI)

A Delhi government official said that so far, over 15,200 people from across Delhi have registered for the yoga classes and currently, around 9,500 people are getting trained in yoga everyday. “Initially, there was a lot of buzz when the initiative was first launched on December 14, 2021. However, the Capital was hit by a Covid-19 wave driven by the Omicron variant and the city reported a large number of cases. As a result, the response to the yoga initiative was poor as people avoided outdoor activities due to the fear of contracting Covid-19,” said the official.

In the second week of January this year, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the free yoga initiative would be made available online for Covid patients, who were recovering in home isolation. The idea was to assist the quick recovery of the patients under home isolation by boosting their immunity.

Amresh Jha, who is coordinating the free yoga initiative, said over 4,500 Covid patients under home isolation received free yoga sessions.

“It was a very easy process for the patients to register through the website and get online yoga classes by professionally qualified yoga instructors at the comfort of their homes,” said Jha, adding that the yoga classes, which were given in-person since the launch of the programme, switched to online mode due to the Omicron-driven Covid wave, which raged in the Capital in January.

Online yoga sessions are still available for Covid patients under home isolation.

Harjinder Saroha, former vice chairman of Vasant Kunj Federation of RWAs, said around 60 people in Vasant Kunj societies take free yoga classes online.

“Most of them are retired senior citizens. They practise yoga between 10 and 10.30am every day,” he said.