New Delhi, June 8: India's ministry for traditional medicine and yoga may request the Centre to declare the International Yoga Day that falls on June 21 a public holiday if such a demand emerges from the public.

Shripad Yasso Naik, the minister for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (Ayush), indicated today that his ministry would consider such a demand and request the government as part of its efforts to promote the health-friendly practice among the public.

"Yoga's time is in the morning, there is no need for a holiday, but if there is a demand, we will request the government," Naik said, speaking at a media conference where the government invited experts to speak about the health benefits of yoga.

A circular issued by the Centre last year had listed 17 central government holidays during 2016 and 34 restricted holidays that may vary from state to state.

The ministry is expecting tens of thousands of people to participate in the second International Yoga Day on June 21 this year with the main programme in Chandigarh and satellite events across the country - in offices, educational institutions, residential colonies and villages.

The UN General Assembly had in December 2014 accepted a suggestion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi made in September that year to adopt a day to celebrate yoga which Modi described as "an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition". Modi, who had led the first International Yoga Day celebrations in the capital last year where about 35,000 persons had participated in practicing yogic exercises, is also expected to lead the event in Chandigarh this year.

A senior Ayush official said today that India is already witnessing the impacts of the first International Yoga Day.

Yoga institutions have witnessed a two-fold or three-fold increase in the number of applications from people wanting to be yoga trainers, said Ayush secretary Ajit Sharan.

"One major fallout is that young people have started seeing yoga as a very serious career option," Sharan said. "In one institution, most of them (applicants) were engineers, computer scientists, and other highly qualified people. They had career options, but still wanted to switch to yoga."

Naik said his ministry is hoping that the celebrations around the International Yoga Day would coax large numbers of people to adopt yoga as a preventive health practice and thereby help curb the government's and households' health expenditures.

The Ayush ministry today invited medical researchers to present what they say is growing evidence of the health benefits of yoga in preventing or managing a range of illnesses - from cardiovascular diseases to diabetes to stress and mental disorders.

"Several medical studies have shown that yoga can reduce the risk of primary and secondary heart attacks," said Subhash Manchanda, a senior consultant cardiologist at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, who was among the speakers at the conference today.

But some yoga specialists caution that gaining the health benefits of yoga would require persistence and precision. "It is important to practice yoga the way it is supposed to," said Rajvi H. Mehta, a Mumbai-based yoga trainer.