Potbellied cops form the majority of the city’s police force. A fitness regimen idea was never conceived. Whatever little attempt was taken to make the department fit failed miserably.
Forget the archaic weapons carried by our policemen; they are not even physically fit to carry out arduous tasks which form part of their daily missions to protect the citizenry. And it is doing no good to instill the much-needed confidence of the denizens of Bangalore in its pot-bellied, unfit police personnel.
Surprisingly, despite Bangalore being on the hit-list of terror organisation considering that the city houses sensitive installations from various key sectors, its policemen present a pathetic picture as far as fitness is concerned.
However, nothing is being done about the problem. An idea for a new fitness regimen for the city’s police personnel was never thought of, and nothing related to this is even in the pipeline from the police top brass or the state home ministry. This speaks volumes about how much importance is being given to improve the working efficiency of the city’s police.
According to Education Requirements for Police Officers on education-portal.com (2011) — which are applicable to the constabulary, too — the typical duties of the police relate to keeping the peace, law enforcement, protection of persons and property, and the investigation of crimes.
The policemen are expected to respond to a variety of situations that may arise while on duty. Rules and guidelines dictate how a policeman (officers and men) should behave within the community.
In some cases, rules and procedures dictate that a policeman is obliged to intervene in a criminal incident even if he is off-duty, and they retain their lawful powers while off duty.
This requires complete physical fitness as the job of the policemen, when compared to their counterparts in the defence forces, involves higher tension-related problems and poor dietary culture, which affect their health. Can anything be done about it?
“No” appears to be the answer.
Take this: “Police personnel cannot be sacked or pulled up for being unfit,” says additional commissioner of police (law & order), T Suneel Kumar. “There are certain barriers to be matched during their course at the training camp as he needs to weigh a minimum of 50 kg, but there is no stated boundary for maximum (weight).”
He says: “A common denominator for most police personnel with heath issues and weight problems is lack of exercise, stress levels, and improper diet. One cannot be forced to keep himself/herself fit. It has to be left to them to decide what is best for them.”
He, however, insists that a circular carrying an advisory is regularly sent to every police station “to remind them on keeping a close watch on their health and weight issues as it could lead to obesity, wheezing, hypertension etc.”
But that’s about all. A doctor from Sagar Hospital in Bangalore, who prefers to remain anonymous, says, “We had organised medical camps for the police personnel at our hospitals. When consulted on how to deal with problems, they said the stress levels and the time constraints they face do not allow them to take care of their body.”
NGOs in Bangalore that hold medical camps for the police in private hospitals said only a few physically fit personnel attend the camps. This indicates that those who are physically unfit choose not to do anything about their lack of fitness and are happy to be just what they are — unfit for duty.
In a recent study conducted by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Kerala, more than 50% of male and female police personnel were either overweight or obese. A chunk of the police personnel who were screened fell far short of the ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’ range when they were evaluated for the four core health parameters — body mass index, waist-hip ratio, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
Unfortunately, not one study on those lines has been conducted here in Bangalore.
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