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- UGC might approve the plan to give preference to candidates who have yoga knowledge and are applying for physiotherapy courses.
- The decision is yet to be approved by the UGC and the university will discuss the matter in the next meeting.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) is in talks to give preference to candidates who have practised yoga or have knowledge of yoga and seek admission in physiotherapy programs offered by colleges and universities.
The matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the UGC that meets twice every month. In the previous meeting of UGC, held on August 24, the commission could not reach a consensus regarding giving preference to yoga practitioners.
A senior UGC official informed that if the proposal is accepted at the next meeting of the UGC, it will be brought into effect from the academic session 2018.
In 2016, the HRD Ministry wrote a letter to the UGC and asked it to include yoga as an academic part of bachelor’s and master’s courses in physiotherapy. The letter also recommended that preference be given to applicants who have experience in yoga.
The UGC further directed colleges and universities to start yoga courses as per the syllabus guidelines mentioned on the website of the department of ayurveda, unani, yoga and naturopathy, siddha and homeopathy.
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Various other initiatives have been started by the UGC in order to promote yoga. In 2016, the commission also approved setting up undergraduate and postgraduate yoga departments at various central universities. Six of these have started offering programmes so far.
Also, yoga was included as a subject in the National Eligibility Test (NET) from 2016. Although there are as few as six government university yoga departments, 7279 candidates appeared for the yoga NET exam on January 22, according to the reports of CBSE.
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The UGC is also planning to form an Inter-University Centre for Yogic Sciences in order to increase coordination for research and training in the field of yoga across different institutions.
