NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday issued a WhatsApp number for people to pledge their contribution towards the salaries of yoga teachers under the ‘Dilli Ki Yogshala’ programme.
Kejriwal said those willing to contribute need to send a message on 7277972779 confirming their willingness to contribute and also mention the number of teachers they wanted to fund. Each yoga teacher under the scheme is paid Rs 15,000 per month.
“Whosoever wants to fund the salaries can send a message on the number saying they want to contribute for one or two teachers... We will then give them the name of the teacher and ensure that they directly hand over the cheque to that teacher,” the chief minister said, adding the contribution has to be in multiples of Rs 15,000.
Attacking the BJP and L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena, Kejriwal said, “We aimed to give free yoga classes to 17 lakh people of Delhi but the L-G and BJP stopped these classes. They said they won’t pay the salaries of yoga teachers. Who stops people from doing yoga? It is a sin.”
Around 17,000 people joined the yoga classes under the “Delhi ki Yogshala” programme which is carried out at nearly 600 locations across the city.
The initiative began in December last year, however, LG restricted the Yoga classes stating that he had not received any file seeking permission for the extension of the classes beyond October 31.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal stated that he received thousands of WhatsApp messages, asking for these classes to be continued. “We will not allow the yoga classes to stop under any circumstances,” he added.