In a response to an RTI query that is bound to stir up a controversy, the central government’s Ayush Ministry, citing government policy, has claimed that it did not recruit Muslims for the post of yoga trainers, according to The Milli Gazette.

In an RTI response to Pushp Sharma and The Milli Gazette about Muslim teachers and trainers recruited by the ministry for foreign assignments during the World Yoga Day last year, the reply reportedly stated:

‘As Per Government Policy, No Muslim Candidate Was Invited, Selected or Sent Abroad’

In its reply, the Ministry also stated that none of the 3,841 Muslim candidates, who had applied for the position of Yoga trainer or teacher till October 2015, were hired by the AYUSH Ministry. The RTI response is dated October 2015.

On the other hand, a total of 711 Muslim yoga trainers had applied for a short-term assignment abroad but none of them made it to the interview round.

AYUSH stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy,

(TheNewsMinute could not independently verify the document produced by the Milli Gazette)