Vijayawada, May 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend International Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam on June 21, in which about two lakh people are expected to participate.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand on Wednesday held a preliminary review with the officials of the concerned departments in Vijayawada on the arrangements to be made in this regard.

The state government is making arrangements to celebrate the Yoga Day in the coastal city with the participation of about 2 lakh people in collaboration with the Union Ministry of AYUSH, Art of Living, Isha Foundation, Yoga Sports Association, various universities and other organisations.

During the public meeting in Amaravati on May 2 to re-launch capital works by the Prime Minister, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had invited him to attend the Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam. The Prime Minister accepted the invitation.

The state government will make appropriate arrangements to organize the 11th International Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam with the slogan "Yoga for One Earth, One Health".

Chief Secretary Vijayanand said that elaborate arrangements have to be made to successfully organise the event. He said that the government has appointed Special Chief Secretary of the Medical and Health Department M.T. Krishnababu as the nodal officer at the state level to supervise the arrangements.

He instructed the officials to start the arrangements from now onwards. He said that all students studying from 8th class to degree and PG from various educational institutions in Visakhapatnam city should be involved in this programme.

Similarly, Vijayanand suggested that representatives of the Ayush Mission across the state, yoga instructors, yoga sports associations, yogasana sports associations, PETs, sports coaches, and various central government institutions in Visakhapatnam should be involved on a large scale.

Union AYUSH Ministry Secretary Rajesh, who participated virtually in this meeting from Delhi, said that the event management will be finalized in a few days and two lakh T-shirts and yoga mats will be sent to the state. He made it clear that all necessary support will be provided to the state government to organise these International Yoga Day celebrations successfully.

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 21 as International Yoga Day. On June 21, 2015, the first International Yoga Day was inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi.

To celebrate the 11th International Yoga Day, the Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga has already launched a global campaign in the name of 100 organizations in 100 cities in 100 days from March 13 to June 21 to create awareness about the importance of yoga in protecting everyone's health. In line with this, the Andhra Pradesh government is taking large-scale steps to create awareness about yoga among the people with the slogan "Yogandhra-2025".

In this meeting, Special Chief Secretary and Nodal Officer M.T. Krishnababu made a power point presentation regarding the International Yoga Day celebrations and said that arrangements will be made for about two lakh people to participate in these celebrations. He said that the Union AYUSH Ministry will soon finalise the event management. He said that the place to organise this event in Visakhapatnam has to be finalised.

The state government decided to implement a four-week four-pronged campaign action plan from May 29 to increase awareness among the people about yoga. The awareness campaigns will be organized at the district level in all districts for the first week, at the assembly constituency level for a week from June 5, at the village level for a week from June 12, and at the educational institution level from June 17 on a large scale.

--IANS

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