LUCKNOW: After BJP-led NDA government, it is the turn of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to take yoga forward. The RSS bosses, sources said, have asked the key Sangh functionaries to hold special camps in various parts of the country in a bid to further up the PM Narendra Modi’s attempt to project it on international stage.
A beginning is likely be made on Wednesday when the RSS plans to hold camps to managediabetes through yoga across the country. In UP, the camps will be organized in various districts of the state including Lucknow.
According to Vibhag Karwah of the RSS, Prashant Bhatia, four such camps would be organised in four centres in Lucknow — Arya Samaj Mandir, Singar Nagar; Saraswati Shishu Mandir, A-Block, Indira Nagar; Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Sector Q-Aliganj and Bharti Shishu Mandir, Tikait Rai Talab. Interestingly, all these centres are considered to be strongholds of the RSS. The centres would cover various shakhas of RSS. In Lucknow alone, there are 185 such shakhas.
The week-long camps will be held between 6 am and 8 am everyday. “People will be tested for diabetes free of cost after which they would be taught yoga,” Bhatia said. After a week, the people will undergo tests to assess the effect of yoga.
The reason for RSS advocating yoga is not far to seek. According to recent reports, diabetes has emerged as a major disease burden for India over the past two decades. While diabetes rate has increased by around 45% globally, it jumped 123% in India between 1990 and 2013. Data shows diabetes is now among the top ten reasons for various other disorders among both men andwomen as it breeds obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, severe kidney and lower urinary tract infection, stroke and many other diseases.
Bhatia said that essentially the idea was to spread a word about yoga as a therapy to cure what otherwise happens to be the reason for various other ailments