New Delhi, June 20 : The Ayush Ministry on Wednesday said Vishwas Mandlik of Nashik and The Yoga Institute in Mumbai are the recipients of the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of yoga.
Mandlik won the award in the category Individual - National and The Yoga Institute won in the category Organisation - National.
The selection was done from among 186 nominations received under different categories for the year 2018, the Ministry said in a statement.
Mandlik acquired in-depth knowledge of authentic Patanjali and Hatha Yoga, Bhagwad Gita and Upnishad by study and research of ancient scriptures over the last 55 years.
In 1978, he set up first branch of Yoga Vidya Dham, which today has 160 centres in India.
Mandlik set up Yoga Vidhya Gurukul in 1983 for yoga education.
Yoga Chaitanya Seva Pratisthan, a trust, was set up by him in 1994 to propagate yoga in remote parts of India.
He has written 42 books and developed 300 CDs to cover various training courses, said the Ministry.
The Yoga Institute in Mumbai, set up in 1918 by Yogendraji, has completed 100 years producing more than 50,000 yoga teachers and has over 500 publications to its credit.
It has contributed to the promotion and development of holistic yoga for over 10 decades.
"The winners will be felicitated with a trophy, certificate and a cash award each.
The value of each cash award would be Rs 25 lakh," the Ministry said.
Nomination for the awards were invited through open advertisement.
The Screening Committee chaired by Ayush Secretary drew up a shortlist from the 186 applications, and a jury chaired by the Cabinet Secretary examined the recommendations and made its own analysis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the institution of these awards on second International Day of Yoga on June 21, 2016.
The award for 2017 was won by Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune.
--IANS
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Source: IANS
