SEX WORKERS across the country will now attend yoga classes. The exercise has been launched in New Delhi. The step has been taken to ensure that sex workers are free from various ailments.
“We started yoga classes for sex workers on Tuesday last,” said Khairati Lal Bhola, president of the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, a non-government organisation.
He said the yoga classes were being jointly organised by the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha and Friends Society, another NGO.
“On the first day, about 10 to 15 sex workers attended,” Ashish Aggarwal, head of Friends Society, told the HT on the phone, adding, the yoga classes were organised under the guidance of Swami Yogeshwaranand, a disciple of renowned Yoga guru Swami Ramdev.
“Our aim is to organise yoga classes for sex workers across the country. We will hold classes in 1,100 red light areas in different parts of the country, including Varanasi,” Bhola said.
He said, “There are 23.85 lakh sex workers in the country and they have 54 lakh children.”
The sex workers operating in New Delhi alone have 6,000 children.
The first yoga classes were held at the GB Road red light area in New Delhi. Bhola said there were 96 khotas (brothels) in 14 buildings.
The sex workers operating in New Delhi alone have 6,000 children.
The first yoga classes were held at the GB Road red light area in New Delhi. Bhola said there were 96 khotas (brothels) in 14 buildings.
“The sex workers suffer from various ailments and we think yoga will be good for them,” he said.
On the initiative of the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, the Varanasi district administration sanctioned pension to ten sex-workers who, along with many others, are operating in the Shivdaspur red light area here.
“The pension scheme is the first of its kind in the country,” Bhola told Hindustan Times.