Goa Congress objects to mandatory Yoga Day participation in schools

The Congress on Saturday demanded that the Goa Education Department withdraw its circular making it compulsory for school students and teachers to attend Yoga Day programmes.

The Directorate of Education has instructed all schools to organise Yoga sessions on 21 June, which is observed as International Yoga Day.

In a statement, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said Yoga was a personal choice and should not be made mandatory.

"Yoga is a personal choice, and should never become a compulsory obligation," he said.

Chodankar said Sunday was the only day many families could spend together and was also a day of prayer and religious observance for several communities in Goa.

"Parents should have the freedom to decide how their children spend their weekly holiday," he added.

Responding to the Congress criticism, Goa BJP Medical Cell co-convenor Dr Sneha Bhagwat said it was "sad and unfortunate" that the circular was being politicised.

She pointed out that students were not required to attend Yoga sessions only at their schools and could participate in programmes organised near their homes.

"Yoga is for health, wellbeing, mental and emotional stability, which is very much a necessary right for students," Bhagwat said.

She noted that Yoga had been accepted in more than 193 countries and claimed that over 300 research papers had demonstrated the benefits of a daily 20-minute Yoga practice in improving life expectancy and quality of life.

Bhagwat also claimed that Yoga could help prevent a large number of idiopathic diseases, where the exact cause is unknown.

Clarifying the contents of the circular, she said it did not mandate attendance at school-based events alone.

"It only expects that you attend a yoga session in any place close to you," Bhagwat said.

The exchange comes ahead of International Yoga Day celebrations on Sunday, with the Congress and the BJP taking contrasting positions on the state government's directive.

The Congress's objection comes a day after the Calcutta High Court disposed of a petition challenging a West Bengal government order on participation in International Day of Yoga celebrations after the state clarified that attendance at the event was voluntary and not mandatory for public servants.

The petition, filed by the State Coordination Committee of West Bengal Government Employees, had alleged that a government memo made participation compulsory. After the state government informed the court that the communication was merely an appeal and did not mandate attendance, Justice Amrita Sinha observed that the litigation was unnecessary and disposed of the matter.