A 'twist' in education: Yogi Adityanath, Ramdev to be in varsity curriculum

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and yoga guru Ramdev will now be part of the Chaudhary Charan Singh University curriculum.

University officials said that this is part of their effort to teach students about their "ancient cultural heritage" and the architects of this heritage.

Yogi Adityanath's 'Hathyoga Ka Swaroop va Sadhna' and Ramdev's 'Yog Sadhna va Yog Chikitsa Rahasya' will be part of the first year, second semester undergraduate philosophy curriculum.

It can also be taken as an elective subject by students, along with other courses.

Prof Y. Vimla, pro vice chancellor of the university, said, "The Board of Studies on philosophy has decided that the works of Yogi Adityanath and Ramdev would be included in the syllabus. The two books have been recommended by the state government and endorsed by the Board of Studies of the university."

The recommendation from the state government was made to the University Grants Commission (UGC).

"Study and practice of this course will provide a stressless and effortless life, expansion of consciousness, regulation of the nervous system, etc," said the syllabus structure for the philosophy course recommended by the state government to the university.

Under the New Education Policy, the UGC has come up with a new curriculum which allows universities to decide what makes up 30 per cent of the syllabus for each course. This 30 per cent is designed to keep regional relevance in mind.

The two books have been chosen from a list of seven suggested readings, the others being 'Gheranda Samhita', 'Patanjali Yoga Sutra', a book by Swami Satyanand Saraswati and two by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Prof Vimla said, "The concept of the New Education Policy is that students must first be apprised of their ancient cultural heritage and taught about the architects of this heritage. For instance, when it comes to botany, we need to teach students about the ancient sages who developed Ayurveda and the contributors to its evolutionary process."