For police constable Sanjay Rane, duty always comes first. Even a severe cold, backache and a splitting headache doesn’t stop the 38-year-old from reporting to work at Sion police station every day at 9am. Apart from sincerity, erratic working hours and gruelling 12-hour shifts result in Rane often postponing a visit to the neighbourhood doctor or police hospitals.
At present, every visit to a doctor would entail details about his health ailments, past illnesses and family history. However, with a new initiative by the Mumbai police, wherein each policemen in the city will undergo a complete health check-up every year for the next five years, his worries are set to come down.
Explaining the initiative, police commissioner D Sivanandan said that it will be a medical check-up akin to ‘executive check-ups’ prevalent in the corporate world. The Mumbai police has tied up with private medical institutes who will conduct thorough medical check-up of each and every member of the 43,000-strong police force.
“The entire process will take approximately six to seven months to complete. A proper medical file will be made of every policeman and it will record the medical history of the policeman which will help him in the future as well,” Sivanandan said.
The administration department of the Mumbai police also plans to tabulate the reports and record details of the tests and illnesses suffered by these policemen. In a couple of months, just like the corporate sector, health ailment details of every policemen will be just a mouse click away.
“This new project is a brilliant idea,” agreed Rane. “This will ensure that we undergo a complete health check-up regularly. Moreover, maintaining records will also help the doctor treating us get a clear idea about our medical history,” he added. Policemen across the city have welcomed the new initiative.
“Even if we are transferred and choose to visit other police hospitals, the records will explain everything. We no longer need to remember all the details,” said a police sub-inspector from Matunga police station.
Dinesh Kumar Verma, senior police inspector of the Quick Response Team (QRT) pointed out that though the medical check-ups will help the personnel, there is an urgent need for policemen to alter their lifestyles, switch to healthy diet and regularly exercise and practice.
