Minister for Education, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari today formally inaugurated Srinagar franchise for the USA based health and fitness club “Anytime Fitness” here at Jawahar Nagar.Anytime Fitness is a 24-hour health and fitness club which has it’s headquarter in Woodbury, Minnesota, USA. The company operates over 3,000 franchised located in 20 countries around the world. On the occasion Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Dr Syed Abid Rashid Shah, Joint Director (Central), School Education, Kashmir, Dr Nasir Lone, Cultural Officer, Directorate of School Education, Kashmir, G.N Shakir, Owners of Srinagar franchise, Umer Shah and Sameer Shah were present. Besides, the inaugural ceremony was also attended by the textile businessman, Mohammad Farooq Shah, and Managing Director of Fashion Fiesta, Adnan Shah and other concerned.On the occasion, Altaf Bukhari congratulated the franchise owners for this initiative and said that such type of fitness centres will be productive for the fitness conscious people.
He said the fitness centres help in channelize the energy of the youth in a positive direction and help in physical fitness. He said that more such health and fitness centres should come up in J&K so that more youth can take an active part in fitness which ultimately leads to the overall development of a person.The Minister was informed that the fitness centre is set up on 7200 square feet of area. The equipment for the centre has been bought from US. Besides, the centre possesses separate cross fit section to practice various activities including martial arts, kickboxing, yoga, and Zumba which will be done under the guidance of certified trainers.While talking about the facilities provided to its customers, the Minister was informed that if a person gets his membership done in Kashmir, he/she can access the facilities at any franchise of “Anytime Fitness” throughout the world. The Minister advised the centre owners to maintain the cleanliness and other necessary arrangements in the gym. He also asked them to provide rebate to the youth of the neighboring area.Altaf Bukhari further said that the Education Department is in a process of involving students in extracurricular activities which is necessary along with formal education. “Involvement of students in extracurricular activities will lead to their overall development,” he added.