Assam Police Tells Officers 'Get Fit Or Go Home’
When India celebrates 76 years of Independence on August 15 this year, we are going to witness a health page turning for the police personnel in Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, at a virtual meeting with the top police officers recently, had said to remove the deadwood from the police force - habitual drinkers, 1 those with extreme obesity and 3 with charges of corruption against them. He wants to do this because he wants to turn the police force into a responsive and action-oriented one. He said,"The government has a provision for giving VRS to them. It is an old rule but we had not implemented it earlier. This time, we have started working on it. He added, “300 officers in the state police are habitual drinkers and excess consumption of alcohol has damaged their bodies. Those who will be offered VRS will continue getting their full salary and new recruitment will be done to fill the vacancies. In order to get a fitter police force, the Assam Police on 8th August announced that a fitness test of all state police personnel would be done to determine those who are 'unfit' in terms of their Body Mass Index (BMI). Body mass index is a value derived from the mass and height of a person. It is calculated as a range by using a formula. All the personnel would have to undergo a fitness test. The police personnel have till 15th August to work on their fitness level after which the BMI assessment will begin.
All those who are in obese category i.e BMI is 30+ would be offered another three months to reduce weight, till November end. Again in November a fitness test would be done. Those who are found to be ‘unfit’, will be given Voluntary Retirement from Service (VRS) except those who have genuine medical reasons like hypothyroidism etc. Assam’s Director General of Police GP Singh said Assam, “The Assam police employ around 70,000 personnel. We have drawn up a list of over 680 personnel who are habitual drinkers or obese. After the fitness test, those whose names appear on the list but are unwilling to take VRS will not be assigned field duty.” What a unique way!
