Udaipur: Yoga, cricket stress busters for cops

Udaipur: Law enforcement is a tough task and overworking leads to fatigue and stress. Though stress is unavoidable but cops here at Pratapnagar police station are learning to cope with it. One hour of yoga and cricket each, every morning, keeps them pleasant and prepared for the entire demanding day.
The directions aren't from headquarters but initiated by the SHO himself who realized a need of schedule change for his men."Overworking, night patrolling, investigations, beat watch, special tasks without weekly-offs are routine for policemen which often leads to irritability and disinterest in job," said SHO Manjeet Singh. "We cannot do much to change the working conditions but could certainly add something in our routine to make it interesting and stress free. Thus cricket and yoga came by," Singh said. Every morning, the staff gather in the garden area where cops irrespective of ranks and seniority play at equal levels.
At play nobody is a 'sir', just a 'bhai'. However, only those get a chance to play who have no files pending for disposal to check that duty is not ignored. Besides cricket, 'Sahaj Yoga' sessions have been going on here for three months now. Physical fitness is essential for cops but their busy life hardly permits time for self maintenance. So yoga, exercise and cricket come as a stress reliever, the officer said.
Similar initiative has also been taken up at one of the rural police stations in Bhinder tehsil where the station house officer has managed to develop a gym to ensure physical fitness of his staff.