Ministry says yoga is not sport, but DU colleges still reserve seats

Is yoga a sport The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports MYAS says it is not Yet 11 Delhi University DU colleges have this year reserved seats for the discipline under their sports quotaThe university and the colleges meanwhile have been shifting responsibility back and forth After recognising it as a sport in 2015 the MYAS reversed its decision the next year After elaborate discussion it was concluded that yoga has various dimensionsarms in which competitions are not possible Hence it was agreed that Yoga cannot be termed a sport Consequently it may not be appropriate to recognise any organisation as NSF national sports federation for yoga the Sports Ministry had said in a letter dated December 21 2016 to all national sports federations and the Indian Olympic AssocationIt was also agreed that the entire matter relating to yoga will continue to be handled by the Ministry of AYUSH the letter said When IANS contacted the DU Sports Council for a clarification it said that the colleges had requested the university to conduct yoga trialsYes Yoga has been under sports quota and it has been there in previous years also Last year 19 colleges had applied for trial for Yoga under sports quota The decision in which sports admissions are to be made are taken by the colleges Anil Kalkal Director of the varsity sports council which conducts the centralised trials for sports quota on behalf of colleges told IANSColleges have autonomy to choose the sports under which they wish to give admissions University cannot tell a college to pick a specific sport It is their discretion These sports do not come under Sports Ministry nor are they regulated by it he saidAlthough colleges are entitled to choose a sport for trials and reserve seats under it the list of sports from which they are to choose is compiled by the varsity Kalkal cited another factor in the form of interuniversity competition held by the Association of Indian Universities AIU a nongovernmental body listed under the Societies Act as one of the reasons for considering Yoga as sportIf such was the thing derecognition why would AIU conduct the yoga competition The day AIU will tell us that Yoga is not a sport and stop conducting the competition we will stop taking admission under it he said If colleges are requesting to admit students under yoga what can the university do We have to conduct the trials You should ask the colleges why they requested us to conduct yoga trials he saidAn official from one of the colleges which has reserved seats for Yoga this year when contacted passed the buck to the university We consider Delhi University and AIU the governing bodies If an activity is listed as sport by the university we follow that If DU tells us that it will not conduct trials in yoga then we will also give it up Government doesnt have a role in it MP Sharma sports Convener at Hansraj College told IANS Ambiguity on the legal sanction of quota for yoga got further worsened when an AIU official conceded that the association itself didnt consider yoga as a sportThe competition is there because it helps in maintaining your body mind and spirit We do not consider it sport This is not a sport But we conduct the competition to improve the standard of performance said AIU Joint Secretary Sports Gurdeep Singh Singh also conceded that associations decisions are not binding on the university We have nothing to do with the DU sports quota DU follows its own constitution You talk to DU for this A collective decision is made by our sports board Whatever is in the larger interest of students we do that Its not a sport but an activity which helps strike a balance The entire world has recognised the value of yoga I dont know why only here people have an issue with it he saidHowever in spite of what Singh said the AIU website lists yoga as a sport in its Calendar of Events for 2017 Although it is a thing which has been going on for years some DU teachers when apprised of the matter called the decision listing of yoga as sport by the university as arbitrary stating that it was never presented before the Academic or the Executive Council of the universityAs far as reservation of seats under sports quota is concerned we have an understanding of reserving them for only those sports which are recognised in Olympics On what basis can they include yoga in it asks Rajesh Jha a DU professor and Executive Council member This will end up undermining the chances of admission of those who are trained in genuine sports This seems like a completely arbitrary decision he addedTrials for yoga are scheduled to be conducted later this month Apart from Hansraj Gargi College Deshbandhu College College of Vocational studies and Kalindi College are few of those which have given their names for yoga trials and have reserved seats under the activityCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever