Prasar Bharati, India’s largest public broadcasting agency, has announced a workshop, “Motivation for Life,” at the Brahma Kumaris Om Shanti Retreat Centre in Gurgaon, in the Delhi region. The workshop, to be held between November 28 and 30, will accommodate about 30 officials of the public broadcasting service.
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University is a spiritual organisation mainly led by women. It was founded in 1937 by Lekhraj Khubchand Kripalani, a jeweller who placed a lot of emphasis on reading from the Bhagvat Gita and holding satsangs.
A circular signed by Deputy Director for Personnel Alok Kumar Sharma was uploaded on the Prasar Bharati website on September 27 inviting nominations from regular officers posted in the Prasar Bharati Secretariat for the workshop.
A senior official who is part of organising the event told Frontline that there was nothing religious about the workshop and it was only about “stress management”. “People are under a lot of stress in the office and at home. We are just trying to stabilise their minds. Initially yoga was also considered spiritual, but now see how widely it has found acceptance. Similarly, there is no spiritual angle here.” Since no recruitment was done in Prasar Bharati for the last 19 years and the staff strength was less than 50 per cent of its capacity, there was extra need for a workshop on stress management for its officers, he added.