Ahmedabad, Nov 6: Policemen in India are not known to for their fitness. With their tummies bulging out, the men in khakee are often ridiculed for their ability to physically chase thieves if the need arises.
In Ahmedabad, the police authorities have thus taken a step on this to bring things back to shape. One hundred and fifty-two cops of the city have been asked to go on a three-month mission to reduce their waistlines to 36 inches after the Diwali celebrations get over.
152 cops from Ahmedabad have been asked to go on a three-month mission to shed their weight and waistlines to 36 inches after Diwali. According to a report in IndiaTimes.com, a three-month customised programme has been tailored for the cops and it will be monitored by several doctors from several hospitals.
The 152 cops include a police inspector, seven sub-inspectors and 144 assistant sub-inspectors, head constables, lok rakshaks and others. They have been identified with pot bellies and waists measuring more than 42 and 44 inches.
"A cop's job is not to sit in office but active field work for which fitness is a basic requirement. We found that obesity, especially central obesity, plagued many cops which can compromise chasing offenders," Additional commissioner of police, Sector-2, Ashok Yadav, was quoted as saying by IndiaTimes.
"The weight-loss will be medically supervised wherein specific diet and exercise plans will be given. The target given is to get rid of lard and bring waists whittling down to 36 inches," he said.
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A cash reward of Rs 2,000 has also been announced for the cops who successfully meet the target.
This is not the first time that such steps have been taken though. In July, overweight policemen in Karnataka State Reserve Police were asked to get fit while in March, rural police in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu identified obese policemen who were asked to undergo 21-day training to bring their shape in order.