SC Dismisses Plea Seeking Development & Broadcast Of "COVID Yoga Protocols"

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea seeking a direction upon the Union Ministry of AYUSH to develop standard Yoga protocol to enhance COVID resistance among people, in addition to customised Yoga Protocols to control most common diseases like diabetes, fever, infections and cardiovascular, respiratory and digestive diseases.

A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy & M.R. Shah was not inclined to here the plea which was thereby withdrawn at behest of the petitioner. 

Filed by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the plea also seeks a direction upon the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to broadcast "COVID Yoga protocols" as well as other customised Yoga Protocols, to spread awareness among the general public.

Highlighting various physical, mental and spiritual benefits of performing regular Yoga, the Petitioner through Advocate Ashwani Dubey has contended,

"Article 21 read with Articles 39, 41, 46, 47 and 51A casts duty on the State to improve health of citizens and provide information instruction training supervision in this regard. State must provide health facilities to all citizens, especially children and ensure creation and sustaining of conditions congenial to good health."

In this backdrop, the plea asserted that the Government should frame a 'National Yoga Policy', to promote and propagate Yoga Science in order to make people fully aware about health-hazards, health-hygiene and health safety.

The Petitioner has also lay stress upon the creation of conditions that are congenial to good health among children.

Towards this end, he sought a direction upon the Central Ministry of Human Resource Development to develop standard textbooks on 'Environment, Health and Yoga Science' for students of I-VIII standard and make its study compulsory throughout the Country.

"MHRD vide notification dated 31.05.2010 had notified that National Curriculum Framework 2005 shall be the national curriculum under Section 7(6) of the RTE 2009. NCF 2005 specifically says that Yoga is a core and compulsory subject of the elementary education thus it needs to be given equal status with other subjects and must be taught as a compulsory subject. It is necessary to state that NCERT develops syllabi of all the subjects for primary and junior classes so it should develop standard textbooks on 'Environment, Health and Yoga Science' for students of Class I-VIII," the plea states.

Exploring the feasibility of this relief, the BJP Leader also contended that dedicated Yoga teachers are not necessarily required to teach Yoga in primary classes and that it can be done through 'Projectors or Smart Boards' and even by existing teachers by imparting them Yoga training.