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Show Interest In Yoga Or Pay A Fine: IIT Roorkee's Notice To Students

Show Interest In Yoga Or Pay A Fine: IIT Roorkee's Notice To Students
Indian students participate in a yoga demonstration on International Yoga Day in Chennai on June 21, 2016Yoga, which means union in Sanskrit, is a family of ancient spiritual practices and also a school of spiritual thought from the South East Asian continent, where it remains a vibrant living tradition and is seen as a means of enlightenment. / AFP / ARUN SANKAR (Photo credit should read ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images)
ARUN SANKAR via Getty Images
Indian students participate in a yoga demonstration on International Yoga Day in Chennai on June 21, 2016Yoga, which means union in Sanskrit, is a family of ancient spiritual practices and also a school of spiritual thought from the South East Asian continent, where it remains a vibrant living tradition and is seen as a means of enlightenment. / AFP / ARUN SANKAR (Photo credit should read ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

In addition to their classes and assignments, students at IIT Roorkee are facing another challenge. If they didn't show any interest in yoga, they will have to face strict action which includes paying a fine of ₹700 and not getting a no-dues certificate.

A note to this effect, reportedly sent to the students, has gone viral on social media.

The note was sent to the students of the Radhakrishna Bhawan hostel in IIT Roorkee on 22 June, supposedly by the assistant warden.

According to a report in the Times Of India, the institute is also planning to take strict action against students who did not turn up for the week-long yoga sessions at the campus from 18 to 24 June, as part of the International Yoga Day celebrations.

However, authorities at IIT Roorkee denied that they were planning to take any action against the defaulters. They told TOI said that student attendance data in the Yoga camp was being compiled "just for record."

"We did not pressure any student to attend the yoga sessions in the institute and there is no plan of taking disciplinary action against non-attending students," said DK Nauriyal, Dean (Students) of the institute said.

There was a similar controversy at the institute last year.

A circular, purportedly issued by the Dean of IIT Roorkee, said: "All the students of IIT Roorkee summer hostels are hereby directed to compulsorily attend one week yoga camp from June 18, 2015 to June 24, 2015. Attendance in the yoga camp is mandatory and will be recorded on the spot every day."

However, the institute had denied issuing the circular, saying that the note had only said that the students were "cordially invited" to attend the yoga camp.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.