Assam Police to begin Annual BMI assessment from August 16

Assam Director General of Police (DGP) G.P. Singh announced today that the Assam Police’s Annual Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment for 2024 will commence on August 16. The assessment will begin at 9:00 AM at the 4th Assam Police Battalion (APBn) and the 10th APBn in Guwahati.

For personnel in other districts, the BMI assessments will be conducted in three phases, starting from August 17, 2024. The initiative is part of the department’s ongoing efforts to maintain and promote the physical fitness of its force.

Earlier in May 2024, the Assam Police had announced plans to carry out the third round of fitness tests aimed at identifying overweight personnel within the department. This ongoing fitness initiative is part of a broader effort to ensure that the police force remains in top physical condition.

DGP G.P. Singh had previously stated  the importance of these assessments, noting that the first-ever BMI test conducted in August last year saw a pass rate of 97.53%. The standard set for the initial test was a BMI of 30, with those exceeding this threshold classified as obese or overweight. While the initial announcement included the possibility of voluntary retirement for those who failed the second phase, the DGP later clarified that the primary goal was not punitive but rather to instill discipline within the force.

“We aim to raise the fitness standards year by year, and after the success of the first two phases, we are optimistic that in the coming years, Assam Police will emerge as the fittest force in the country,” Singh stated.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a widely recognized measure used to determine if an individual's weight falls within a healthy range. It is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of their height in meters (BMI = weight (kg)/height (m²)). This metric provides a rough estimate of body fat percentage, helping categorize individuals based on their health status, according to a senior police officer.