Senior officials of the AYUSH Ministry held a review meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss preparations of the International Yoga Day special event on June 21 at the Chandigarh Capitol complex. Modi is expected to attend the event.
At least "96,000 people registered online for the event" since it opened on May 14 and before it closed on June 8, Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh Ajit Balaji Joshi was quoted as saying by PTI.
A total of 180 training centres have been set up across Chandigarh to accommodate the participants.
"The venue can accommodate 30,000 people but registration has reached 1.2 lakh. So there will be a deep selection. The fact that people are competing to participate in a yoga event is itself commendable," AYUSH Ministry Secretary Ajit Sharan said.
Vinita Gupta, director of the department in Chandigarh, said all those unable to participate at the main venue would be doing yoga at various other locations across the city.
"During the dress rehearsal if we see that someone is not performing up to the mark we can always replace him/her from among those who have registered," Gupta said.
Last week, Minister of State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik had said he would facilitate a request to Modi if the public demanded a holiday on June 21.
Summer vacations have eliminated the possibility of students from schools and colleges to ask for a holiday and working individuals will also be able to attend the Yoga event which is set to finish by 8 a.m.
