Chandigarh, Jun 21 (IANS): The Congress government in Punjab did not celebrate International Yoga Day on Friday, but its minister advocated promoting yoga as "it is the easiest way for one to get rid of mental and physical health problems".

"It is quite disheartening to see that everyone in the modern world is in tension and anxiety and the easiest way for one to get rid of this perennial mental and physical health problem is yoga," Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said at a function here.

He said the state government was contemplating a flagship programme to involve every citizen of the state to make yoga a part of their daily routine.

The minister was speaking after inaugurating the International Yoga Day conference on Wellness-Health and Medical Tourism.

The conference was organized by Invest Punjab in collaboration with ICSI (International Chamber for Service Industry).

More than 200 delegates from the US, Britain and Thailand of the wellness industry participated in the day-long conference to discuss, deliberate and develop an ecosystem making Punjab a medical tourism destination, a statement by a minister said.

In his address, Sidhu said a person who is doing some sort of exercise or performing yoga every day is more efficient and energetic.

Technical Education Principal Secretary D.K. Tiwari said though Punjab has achieved great success in wellness and the tourism industry in the last 10 years, there is still much scope to take this medical tourism industry on the global map.

Wellness and medical tourism industry could offer plentiful opportunities to the students to earn a respectable income, he added.

According to him, Skill Development Mission Punjab is offering 33 such different courses to the students.

Functions were also held in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Bathinda towns without the involvement of the state government to mark the fifth International Yoga Day.