Haryana govt to give Cabinet Minister status to Ramdev

He is the state's brand ambassador to promote yoga and ayurveda

The Haryana government on Monday decided to give ‘status equivalent to Cabinet minister’ to Ramdev.

“Ramdev, brand ambassador for promotion of yoga and ayurveda in Haryana, will be given status equivalent to Cabinet Minister,” Haryana’s health and sports minister, Anil Vij tweeted.

Vij had earlier said a herbal forest would be developed in the state, where plants of thousands of species of ayurvedic herbs would be grown under the supervision of Ramdev.

The emphasis on yoga and ayurveda would lead to an amalgamation of tradition and modernity and inclusion of yoga in the school syllabus would turn Haryana into a model state based on Indian values and traditions, Vij had said.

Yoga would be made a compulsory subject in schools, for which yogshalas will be constructed in all the towns and about 6,500 villages under the guidance of Ramdev, he said.

Notably, last month, Haryana Assembly had witnessed uproarious scenes as the Bharatiya Janata Party government came under sharp attack from the Opposition Congress for allegedly “going out of the way to please Ramdev by making him the brand ambassador” for promotion of yoga and ayurveda.