BENGALURU : While police personnel keep a close watch on crime in the city, the department is keeping one on their staffers' waist-line. If they are not the right size, they will find less rice in their meals and a yoga mat and stretchable shorts left near their desks (in a manner of speaking).On an average, 150 personnel from Karnataka State Reserve Police die when they are in service every year. A large majority of them lose their lives to lifestyle illnesses. To keep the force happy and healthy, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of KSRP, Bhaskar Rao, has issued a circular to the staff asking them to keep fit. If they fail to fall in line, action will be taken against them.
In Karnataka, there are 14,000 KSRP personnel (sanctioned) posts, out of which 10,000 are working across the State. Sources from Home Department say that, at the time of recruitment, the aspirants are asked to do various physical activities and keep themselves fit. "But, over time, some of them become obese and get a visible tummy. The force is being ridiculed in many public platforms and the media. We want to change this image,'' sources said.
According to Bhaskar Rao, they found that many police staffers where dying in service for various reasons – one of the most common one was their poor lifestyle that includes unhealthy food habits. "There are alcoholics, smokers and gutka users. They even spend too much time on their cell phones. They lead sedentary lives with no fitness activity. This leaves them vulnerable to lifestyle diseases,'' said Bhaskar Rao, himself a fitness enthusiast.
Circular issued by Rao to all the heads concerned says that they should note down the weight and height of the police personnel working under them. Whoever is overweight or obese has to be listed separately, and should be asked to do physical activities to reduce weight. Their weight should be monitored every month and those to fail to lose the extra kilos will face disciplinary action, according to the circular. Rao said that the overweight and obese staffers will have to take classes in yoga and sign up for indoor sports. "We will do this with medical advice of experts,'' he added.
The police staff will also be given healthy food. "We are discussing terms with University of Agricultural Sciences to provide the staffers with healthy food made from millets. Food will only be made using less oil. There will be more eggs, fruits, greens and vegetables in the diet. We have seen many of our police personnel eating rice three times a day which is also making them obese. They don't have much proteins in their diet,'' Bhaskar Rao said. They even have plans to provide them with better fitness wear like ones made out of Lycra for sports. "All these days they were using khaki shorts,'' Rao said.