Patna, June 24: A yoga session a day will keep the doctors away.

This is what the state police headquarters believes will keep the men and women in uniform physically and mentally fit so they can perform well in their duties.

The police headquarters is mulling over a proposal to engage trainers from the Munger-based internationally acclaimed School of Yoga to impart training to the police personnel to reduce stress and keep them physically fit.

Munger superintendent of police Varun Kumar Sinha confirmed he had received a letter from the police headquarters asking him to approach the Bihar School of Yoga based in Munger to spare two teachers and four instructors to train the police officers.

“Without any delay, I wrote to the director of the institute, Swami Surya Prakash, requesting him to consider the proposal. I am waiting for the institute director’s reply,” Sinha, who practises yoga on a regular basis, told The Telegraph.

Sources in the police headquarters said the Bihar School of Yoga teachers would first train the master trainers of the police force. The master trainers would later impart training to the police officers. Initially, there would be provision for 15 days’ training session, a senior police officer said.

The officer revealed that the superintendents of police have already been told to make provisions for regular yoga classes for the newly recruited policemen. “This will help them reduce hypertension due to workload and unhygienic working conditions,” he added.

A random survey conducted by the police headquarters showed that 30 per cent of the police force was unfit. Of the 2010 policemen examined at a medical check-up camp organised with the help of the police hospitals, 567 were found unfit with their fitness levels revealing an alarming trend.

A total of 169 police personnel had high blood pressure and another 203 had high cholesterol levels. Another 100 were grossly overweight and 96 were suffering from diabetes. A majority of them were victims of hypertension, obesity and blood sugar.

What set off the alarm for the senior police officials was that the maximum number of ailments was detected in the rank of constables, assistant sub-inspectors and sub-inspectors, who were assigned field work. “Even the cops in the younger age group were among the worst suffers,” the police officer said.

A noted yoga teacher Mahesh Yogi said that specific asanas and pranayams had been prescribed for those suffering from different ailments. However, there were asanas which can be practised in a group such as Tadasan, Triyak Tadasan, Kati Chakras and salutation (surya namaskar).

Yogi, a product of Bihar School of Yoga, said these asanas and pranayams could be practised even in standing position and didn’t require a lot of space. “The regular practice of yoga will certainly increase the work efficiency,” he told The Telegraph.