Appeal in Supreme Court Seeking Development & Broadcast of "COVID Yoga Protocols"

A PIL has been filed with the Supreme Court seeking a course on AYUSH Union Ministry to develop a standard Yoga protocol to improve resistance to COVID among people, including custom Yoga Protocols. This can help to control the most common diseases such as diabetes, fever, infections and cardiovascular diseases, respiratory and digestive diseases.

BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed the plea, also seeks guidance on the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to broadcast "COVID Yoga protocols" and other customized Yoga Protocols, to spread awareness among the public.

Highlighting various physical, mental and spiritual benefits of performing regular Yoga, the Petitioner through Advocate Ashwani Dubey has contended, "Article 21 read with Articles 39, 41, 46, 47 and 51A casts a duty on the State to improve the health of citizens and provide information instruction training supervision in this regard. The state must provide health facilities to all citizens, especially children and ensure the creation and sustaining of conditions congenial to good health."

In this context, it is stated that the Government must frame a 'National Yoga Policy', to promote and spread the Science of Yoga so that people are fully aware of the risks to health, hygiene and safety of the health.

The petitioner has also emphasized on creating conditions that are compatible with the good health of children. To this end, he has sought a direction from the Central Ministry of Human Resources Development to develop standard textbooks on 'Environment, Health and Yoga Science' for students of the I-VIII grade and make its study mandatory in the whole country.

"MHRD vide notification dated 31.05.2010 had notified that National Curriculum Framework 2005 shall be the national curriculum under Section 7(6) of the RTE 2009. NCF 2005 specifically says that Yoga is a core and compulsory subject of elementary education; thus, it needs to be given equal status with other subjects and must be taught as a compulsory subject. It is necessary to state that NCERT develops syllabi of all the subjects for primary and junior classes so it should develop standard textbooks on 'Environment, Health and Yoga Science' for students of Class I-VIII," the plea states.

In exploring the feasibility of this relief, the petitioner has stated that dedicated yoga teachers are not necessarily needed to teach yoga in primary classes. It can be done through 'Projectors or Smart Boards' and even by existing teachers by giving Yoga training.