Nearly 20,000 people to join Modi
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 11: In a significant achievement for newly created Union Territory of Ladakh, Leh will be hosting main event for International Yoga Day this year on June 21 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend it and perform yoga at the height of 10,000 feet from the sea level.
International Yoga Day is celebrated every year since June 21, 2015 following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Leh in the Union Territory of Ladakh will be the venue for the main event for International Yoga Day on June 21 this year and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend it.
The Prime Minister has been attending International Yoga Day every year. Last year, the main event was held in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand.
Modi is expected to perform `yoga asanas’ based on the Common Yoga Protocol. The event is likely to be attended by 15,000 to 20,000 people in high altitude and mountain locked Leh.
Unless the Prime Minister visits Ladakh earlier also, this will be his first visit to Union Territory of Ladakh, which was created on August 5 last year and finally came into being on October 31. With this, the Central Government headed by Narendra Modi had fulfilled long pending demand of the people of Leh for granting them the Union Territory status.
While replying to debate on Motion of Thanks to President’s Address in Parliament last month, Modi had announced that the Union Territory of Ladakh will be made ‘Carbon Neutral’ and had also said that he would shortly visit the UT.
The Central Government, according to sources, also proposed to take several measures to promote tourism in the Union Territory of Ladakh this summer. The steps will be unveiled shortly, sources said, adding that infrastructure will be generated to meet the rush of tourists in both Leh and Kargil districts.
“The event of International Yoda Day 2020 promises to be unique and different since such a large congregation for yoga will be taking place in a high altitude location like Leh for the first time,” sources said, adding this will send very positive message about the Union Territory of Ladakh and help give further boost to tourism.
Industry bodies like CII, FICCI, Institute of Company Secretary and educational bodies like CBSE, NCERT, UGC and DAV have already prepared programmes for June 21.
Sources said within the next few days, the Central Government is expected to come out with rules to protect land and jobs for the people of Union Territory of Ladakh along with Jammu and Kashmir, which is major demand of the people there. Moreover, the Government was also expected to take steps to overcome shortage of staff in Ladakh, which has become cause of worry for the administration in both the districts of Leh and Kargil after Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and made a Union Territory.
The AYUSH Ministry, which is the nodal body to oversee the annual celebrations, has organized several programmes since the inception of International Yoga Day in 2015.
In Delhi, the main event will be held at Rajpath and it will be organized by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) along with the Ayush Ministry.
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