Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena for the suspension of free Yoga classes under the ‘Dilli ki Yogshala’ programme and asked who benefitted from the action. Kejriwal’s remarks come on the back of Punjab’s AAP-led government starting free Yoga classes in the state.
Tweeting in Hindi, Kejriwal said, “When the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) ordered the Lt Governor to stop free Yoga classes in Delhi, we started them in Punjab. “In Delhi, 17,000 people used to do Yoga daily in the free classes of the Delhi government. Their Yoga was stopped. Who benefited from this? The one who works is bigger than the one who stops the work.” Kejriwal launched the ‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’ programme in December 2021 to enable all Delhi resident to get free Yoga training at their doorsteps six days a week.
Last year, the AAP dispensation in Delhi accused the BJP of “conspiring” to shut down the ‘Dilli ki Yogshala’ programme by pressuring officials. At the time, the Delhi government alleged that Saxena did not approve the programme’s extension beyond October 31. On the other hand, LG Secretariat officials had stated that the decision to discontinue the ‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’ scheme in its “present form” was taken by the Board of Governors of the fully autonomous Delhi Pharmaceutical Science & Research University (DPSRU), and statements made by AAP leaders on it were “totally false. Officials in the LG Secretariat said the “statements made by AAP leaders were totally false and deliberately misleading”.
The “decision to discontinue the ‘Yogshala’ programme in its present form was taken by the Board of Governors (BoG) of the fully autonomous DPSRU and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had authorised the DPSRU BoG to take any such decision in writing,” the officials claimed.
Kejriwal had provided a WhatsApp number for people to offer their support for the wages of yoga instructors through the ‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’ programme. But Dilli Ki Yogshala could not be resumed.
