Integrated Health Management Scheme: Vadodara cops on a mission to shed kilos under incentive programme

Both Reva and Shah were given a target of 90 days to lose weight and move to the green category. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)

While Reva lost nearly 20 kgs — from 89.5kg to 68kg, Shah now weighs 66 kgs as against her initial weight of 83 kgs at the start of the programme. Both have been posted in Harni and Karelibaug police stations respectively, according to their choices.

IHMS was launched under Singh’s supervision with an emphasis on fitness and transformation of the police personnel to create a “healthy and efficient” force. The personnel were categorised under red, yellow and green categories based on their BMI after a fitness check-up campaign.

Nearly 26 of the 240 personnel categorised in the red category have dropped to yellow while four, including Reva and Shah, have jumped to the green zone. Of 3,134 employees, 941 have been categorised in the green category for blood sugar and hypertension, while 433 are in the yellow category. Around 317 personnel are in the red category for blood sugar and hypertension.

Both Reva and Shah were given a target of 90 days to lose weight and move to the green category. The incentive – they were told that successful candidates would be granted a posting at a police station of their choice in the city.
“Being classified in the BMI red category was a wake up call. I made up my mind to take the 90-day challenge and with the support of the department, I achieved my goal. Not only did I bag the incentive, but also got a newfound energy and vigour in going about my routine. My teenage son tells me that I now pass off as his sister and it is a big compliment for me,” Reva said.

For Shah, too, it has been a transformation of the mind and body. A mother of two preschoolers, Shah says, “The weight that I knocked off in 90 days has not only changed my fitness level currently but has made me aware that losing weight or staying fit is not only achievable but also easy once you remind yourself about the choices you make everyday.”

Echoing similar views, Police Sub-Inspector Kalpesh Vasava of the Vadodara Detection of Crime Branch, who shed 16 kgs, said it is ironic that officials do not prioritise fitness. “As a crime investigator, we travel outside in search of culprits and stay out at nights and often, end up making bad meal choices. We grab unhealthy items from a hotel menu when we can actually choose the right food and stay fit. Now, even in my cabin at the office, I have nuts to snack on with tea instead of biscuits… The increased fitness has meant that I am able to perform better at work, undoubtedly,” he says.

Police commissioner Singh said the programme has been implemented under the principle of “skin in the game”. “The idea is to make deputy commissioners of police stakeholders in the fitness journey. The aim of the campaign is to also ensure that the officials feel that they are cared for when their superiors are entrusted with the task of monitoring their health… It also builds self-confidence and improves the quality of work of police officers,” he said, elaborating that fitness has now become a part of the parameters for monthly performance review and is directly linked to their efficiency in an investigation.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 3, Yashpal Jagania — the nodal officer of IHMS, said constant monitoring has played a big role in making the campaign effective. “We monitor their weight and basic health parameters on a weekly basis while the BMI is to be checked at regular intervals or annually.”

To ensure the success of the campaign, the personnel were given duties to ensure they can attend their fitness programmes as well.

“The counselling sessions of those in the red categories have helped make them realise that fitness is about realising what one can do in the space or time they are in… No one can avoid the duty but one has to spare at least one hour in the day for fitness and it is not undoable,” said Abhay Soni, DCP Zone 2, who is also in charge of the Wellness Centre.

A health advisory committee has also been included to provide expert recommendations and inputs. The city police also inaugurated a new wellness centre on the ground floor of the Police Bhavan equipped with gym equipment and a dedicated team of a counsellor, psychiatrist, trainer, meditation teacher and yoga expert —Dhiral Patel—who has been conducting the camps since the beginning of the programme. “Each zone also has a dedicated dietician so that the fitness of the officials is tracked regularly and any changes can be made as needed… We have officers even at the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police who are unfit and shun work due to lethargy and lifestyle diseases,” Singh added.

Next in the campaign is working on the fitness of Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) personnel who are “underweight”. “Interestingly, while many of the personnel in the police force come from the rural background with unhealthy eating habits and then lack of physical fitness once on field, the LRD personnel are unhealthy because they are underweight and even anaemic,” Singh said.