Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday underlined the need for conducting 11th International Yoga Day celebrations in Visakhapatnam on a grand scale on June 21 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be participating in the celebrations this year.

The Chief Minister stressed that the event must be historic and unforgettable while officials said that arrangements were being made for 2.5 lakh people to take part.

Addressing a review meeting with officials on the arrangements for the International Yoga Day celebrations, Naidu noted that this year’s theme would be ‘Yoga for One Earth, One Health’.

Stating that it was a prestigious event, the CM said the Prime Minister’s presence would make it even more special.

“It must be conducted spectacularly and mark the beginning of a widespread yoga movement across the state. Every citizen should be made a stakeholder. The programme must reach at least two crore people. The statewide campaign should be launched under the theme- Yogandhra-2025”, Naidu said.

To prepare the people, a ‘Yoga Month’ will be observed from May 21 to June 21. During this period, yoga practice sessions should be organised across all village and ward secretariat jurisdictions. Private individuals, trainers, yoga associations, and experts should be involved as partners. Citizens should be offered both online and offline training for a month. Those who complete the training should be awarded certificates of recognition, he said. The registrations for Yoga Day participation should be facilitated through the village and ward secretariats. Students from schools and colleges should also be actively involved, he said. Officials presented plans for the PM’s programme and crowd arrangements at RK Beach. They informed that yoga participants will be spread from RK Beach to Bheemunipatnam Beach. Arrangements are being made for approximately for 2.5 lakh people to participate in yoga along this stretch. About 68 locations have been identified for the event, including public spaces like RK Beach, Rushikonda, schools, cricket grounds, police and sports complexes, navy premises, and other open grounds—altogether providing capacity for 2,58,948 participants, they added.

The event will be conducted in coordination with the Health Department, AYUSH Ministry, and central government agencies, they said.