Senior bureaucrats of Uttar Pradesh are all set to attend from Thursday a three-day camp for hands-on experience of the benefits of yoga, which will not only relieve them of work-related stress but also inculcate leadership qualities.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will attend the camp on the last day (Saturday).
The yoga camp for senior bureaucrats at Indira Gandhi Pratisthan in the state capital Lucknow will be presided over by 'Art of Living' founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
The 'excellence in leadership' programme would be conducted by international trainer Rajita Bagga.
AoL office-bearers told IANS that top bureaucrats of Uttar Pradeh will be taught the 'art of managing stress' through 'Sudarshan Kriya' and control of 'chanchal man' (wandering mind) through breath control exercises.
The camp was planned after Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav evinced keen interest in assimilating yoga and 'Sudarshan Kriya' - involving various physical exercies and rythmic breathing techniques - in the daily routine, especially for officials facing work pressure, an official told IANS.
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The official said that during a meeting of the Art of Living founder with Yadav here in March, the spiritual leader told the chief minister about his initiative - Leadership Development - to inculcate leadership qualities through yoga.
The chief minister responded positively and formed a committee comprising the chief secretary, principal secretary (appointments) and principal secretary (housing) to hold one such camp for bureaucrats.
Principal Secretary (Housing) Sadakant credited the 42-year-old chief minister for the yoga event. "It is due to his initiative that the event has been made possible," he said.
A senior bureaucrat called the upcoming camp a "positive move by the state government that will go a long way in destressing officials and giving them a break from the routine official rigmarole."
In a related development, teaching of yoga would be included under extracurricular activities in all state government medical colleges.
Director General of Medical Education V.N. Tripathi confirmed the move and said that the "initiative will benefit both the patients and doctors".
Violent clashes between families of patients and doctors have been reported across Uttar Pradesh government hospitals in the past.
Yoga curriculum, senior doctors aver, will go a long way in bringing down stress levels in overworked medicos.