Workshops to enable techies achieve better health score cards

"The Department through a tie up with private Ayurvedic players, proposes to conduct workshops, training sessions and treatment sessions for techies", Sreekantaiah who is also Chairman, 4th World Ayurveda Congress Events Organising Committee, told PTI on the sidelines of the event here today.

"Many of the IT professionals suffer from eye problems owing to long hours spent before the computer. They also complaint of lack of concentration, stress and insomnia. Some of the professionals also suffer from reproductive ailments and complaint of infertility", he said. Many of the health problems arose from their lifestyle.

Many of these fall in the age profile of 25 to 45. "In fact some of the diseases often afflicting those 55 plus, were found among techies as early as 40-45", he said.
"There was need to preserve the health of the IT professionals who contribute to the GDP of the country", he said by initiating them into the preventive and curative system of ancient Indian health systems.

The Department of Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) plans to set up awareness classes for these professionals by focussing on holistic lifestyle and treatment. "These workshops and training would include, yoga, meditation, training, and choice of Ayurvedic treatment to address their various ailments", he said.

"We are open to the idea of conducting these programmes on the campus itself or at a chosen venue", he said.

The programmes would be conducted through a private-public partnership model with the department initially tying up with four leading Ayurvedic companies for the same.
According to Dr Mruthyunjaya, Managing Director, Sahthayu Ayurveda, one of the partners in the proposed programme, "around 80 per cent of our clietns are from the IT industry. Many of them come in with complaints of obesity and related complications, erectile dysfunction, infertility and polycystic ovaries syndrome",

"Many of these were in the 30-40 age profile", he said.

Speaking on the inititatives taken up by IT firm Infosys, its co-founder Shibulal, said the campus has been designed to provide a good ambience. "There is excellent health care and medical facility, there is a swimming pool, cycling, lot of place to walk, to relax. We understand the work is a little taxing, but now they work for reasonable hours, the long hours is an old story", he said. Some set of professionals were also allowed flexibility in work schedules, he said.
"We hold a lot of activities, yoga, dance floor, lot of activities in the office which they can take part in. There are lot of awareness programmes we conduct. People can come and attend those awarenes programmes" , he said.

"IT industy is not the only exception when it comes to pressure at work. Like others the professionals they need to take preventive, eat healthy, at the end of the day you need to have a lot of personal discipline", he said.