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BMI over 30? Premier civil services institute rolls out courses in yoga, aerobics for trainees

Under Fit Civil Services for Youthful India programme, trainee officers will undergo 15-week courses customised to their needs. Body Mass Index must be below 30 as per DoPT rule.

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New Delhi: India’s premier civil service training institute Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) has rolled out fitness courses in Krav Maga, weight training, aerobics, yoga, rock climbing among others to help young trainee officers maintain a low Body Mass Index (BMI).

Combining a person’s weight with height, BMI is used to screen for overweight and obese individuals. Higher the BMI, more the body fat in a person. The BMI of trainee officers must be under 30 as per an existing rule of  the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), said sources in the government.

Under the programme ‘Fit Civil Services for Youthful India’, specialised fitness training is also imparted to young officers enrolling for the foundation course in Mussoorie-based LBSNAA.

“Everyone is put through the Fit Civil Services for Youthful India programme. It is a customised fitness programme which includes parameters of ‘strength’, ‘stamina’, ‘balance’, ‘endurance’ etc. There are courses of yoga, Krav Maga, aerobics, weight training, rock climbing, outdoor treks, PT etc,” a senior IAS officer serving in LBSNAA told ThePrint

These courses with 15 week durations can be customised for the fresh inductees depending on their fitness needs, said the officer. “The DoPT rule says that the trainee officer has to have a BMI lower than 30. We give time for improvement, and candidates come back with improved fitness.”


Also Read: IAS training is getting an upgrade under Modi. Global experts, nationalism & corporate touch


Fitter ‘steel-frame’ 

The Modi government’s push for fitness is now being extended to the bureaucracy and it started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi bringing yoga to the fore.

“The government’s priorities were clear when it brought yoga in the international focus by announcing International Yoga Day (21 June). All ministries, departments and government organisations were asked to practise it, and the PM himself does that. The steel frame should be leaner, and it is high time that we cut the extra flab literally,” said a second senior IAS officer serving in the central government.

The officer said that the government is trying to bring a standard in physical fitness. “It should start with the training itself, and it should be a way of life. The instrute functions in a regimented set up. But the officers should carry the discipline outside too. It is not about only being fit, but being disciplined in life and work. We know that there would be interpretations and criticism for this too, but we have our best intentions in mind,” said the officer, who is serving in DoPT.

The officer added that the institute used to make the inductees take part in Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fitness regime, which is an intensive training. It, however, was not mandatory.

The Print spoke to some of the inductees, who welcomed the push for fitness.

“We already have certain fitness programmes which include horse riding, trekking, and sports activities. But the new programme is mandatory and it is reassuring too. There was a time when fitness was not seen as a priority. However, with the government focusing on this, it has surely gone up in the priority list,” a young officer, trained in LBSNAA in 2022, said.

Mental vs physical strenght

Some retired officers observed that the choices of the government were now “market and social media driven” which might not be healthy for the administrative service.

“There is nothing wrong about being fit or trying to be fit, and this is normal. But making a song and dance about it means the priorities are misdirected. The inductees should focus on learning ethics, mental agility and integrity while handling critical issues in a country like India,” retired IAS officer T.R. Raghunandan, a visiting faculty at LBSNAA, told ThePrint.

“Civil service officers are not celebrities. They are into a serious business of running administration. However, everything is so much social media driven nowadays that officers are more focused on building followers rather than governance. The officers need to be mentally fit. That should be the first and foremost thing, instead of competing with each other on Instagram, Twitter,” he added.

Another retired civil service officer K.B.S Sidhu said these measures were looking more like brand-building exercises

“These may help the officers as individuals but it will not help the system. There should be a formal mechanism to handle stress and the need for guidance during the critical phases in the administration. Fitness programmes were already there in several forms in the institute. It is just now being repackaged to make a brand. Young officers suffer from legal-administrative dilemmas, and they seek guidance. They cannot just be a complying machine, but an officer with sharp discretionary powers. These things need to be focused,” Sidhu told ThePrint.

Trainees had to maintain a fitness standard and undergo medical tests, but there was nothing compulsive or mandatory, he added.

(Edited by Tony Rai)


Also Read: In 8 months, one DGP has juggled CRPF, BSF, SSB, ITBP. For others, there’s no work


 

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