Govt under 'pressure' to release Rs 45L to Yoga day organiser

The department of Ayush has asked the finance department to release Rs 45 lakh to pay for Shwasa, which along with the Karnataka Olympic Association, was an organiser of the International Yoga Day event. The event was organised on June 21 at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.

The proposal by the department follows a directive from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on May 28 asking Ayush to give an additional Rs 25 lakh to Shwasa, a yoga centre headed by Swami Vachanananda to organise the event in a grand manner. Earlier, the department had a tentative budget of Rs 21 lakh for the Yoga day including Rs 11 lakh for training the NCC cadets across the state and Rs 10 lakh for organising the main event at the stadium in Bengaluru. After a directive from the Chief Minister, the Ayush department had said that they cannot give the money unless there is additional grant from the government as it exceeded its budget of Rs 21 lakh set aside for the event. The government is yet to release funds, Subhash K Malkhede, director, Ayush department told Deccan Herald adding that the department will make the payment only after a thorough scrutiny of expenditure. Vacahananda who is currently in the USA is exerting pressure on the department to release the money, he said.

"We have decided to pay Rs 20 lakh to Shwasa from our budget,'' Malkhede said. For the remaining Rs 25 lakh, Shwasa has made a proposal through the Karnataka Olympic Association, he said.