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Case closed. The criminal is STRESS

It is the story of life and balance. A 40-year-old constable from the Mumbai police will be indebted to the top brass of his force till his dying day.

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The biggest culprit in copland is stress. Unless this phenomenon is arrested, copouts and burnouts will rise

It is the story of life and balance. A 40-year-old constable from the Mumbai police will be indebted to the top brass of his force till his dying day. Even as a 10-year-old, Ravindra Shitole, a son of a poor farmer from Amravati, had always harboured the desire of donning the police uniform. He maintained his physique, kept abreast of current affairs, and when he turned 24, fulfilled his dream. He joined the police force as a constable and what followed was respect, job security and a flood of single women wanting to tie the knot with him.

After a fairytale wedding and fathering two sons, Shitole was transferred to Mumbai - a city that he had visited just once and heard plenty of tales from “affluent” villagers. From a sprawling thatched-roof home with an attached aangan (courtyard) in Amravati, Shitole had to shift to a one-room apartment in the police quarters after he was transferred to Mumbai.

This was Shitole’s first taste of life in Mumbai, and he began to crumble under pressure as the travails of urban life took their toll. “I could not take the pressure anymore. I was contemplating suicide,” says Shitole, recalling what he calls the “black phase” of his life. “That’s when I heard about yoga classes for policemen. I enrolled in it and ever since, I have managed to get peace and order in my life,” he adds, his eyes bright with gratitude.
Twice every week, there are two-hour long yoga sessions at the Naigoan police grounds. The camp is attended by at least 300 policemen. The sessions focus on meditation, breathing and stretching exercises.

The Maharashtra police, keeping in mind the growing job pressures, terror attacks in the city and poor work conditions, have introduced several schemes for the welfare of the force. “With such stressful jobs, it is important that we have recreational activities. The happiness and welfare of the force is an important factor,” says joint commissioner of police Hemant Karkare.

The high-pressure jobs and irregular eating habits have had an adverse effect on the health of Mumbai’s policeman. “Heart diseases, diabetes, obesity and cholesterol are the most common health ailments among the police force,” says an officer working in the welfare department of the Mumbai police. “To keep this under check, we have regular health camps where free check-ups are done.”

The welfare department is now creating a database of its entire force with detailed reports of the ailments. The Maharashtra police has also tied up with 157 hospitals across the state where policemen can seek medical treatment. In 2002, the police introduced an insurance cover for its force under the Maharashtra police kutumb arogya yogna.

In a unique effort to encourage policemen to stay in shape and also keep a check on obesity, the Mumbai police have introduced a cash incentive. Every policeman above 30 years, from a constable to a police inspector, who manages to keep his Body Mass Index (BMI) within 25, gets a reward of Rs250 per month. “We expect our policemen to utilise the facilities provided by the government and use them to their benefit,” says Karkare.

Also, there are 27 gymnasiums in several police stations, including Sion, Pydhonie and Oshiwara, where policemen work on their fitness routine, such as weight training and cardio exercises. “This facility is really helpful as some of the city’s gymnasiums are too expensive. Having a gymnasium of our own motivates us to workout and be fit,” says Sanjay Rane, police constable, Sion police station.

With several policemen being chain-smokers and others addicted to chewing tobacco, the police have joined hands with the Salaam Bombay Foundation, an NGO, and begun an initiative to create awareness on the adverse effects of tobacco and nicotine. Every police station has been covered by the special programme and policemen have been given individual attention and counselling.

Now, with constables like Ravindra Shitole benefiting from such initiatives, it looks like the Mumbai police force is out to get the worst culprit: stress.

s_poornima@dnaindia.net 

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