Tightening the noose, the Indian army has strictly adopted a zero-tolerance policy against the obese soldiers. After a sample survey showed a third of 767 soldiers crossing the average weight, the Indian Army has decided to defer their eligibility to get promotions, transfers, the ability to attend ceremonial functions and much more if they do not trim down.
The army further decided to an annual hold an “obesity evaluation examination” from May 2017 which all the personnel must undergo. The seed of this idea came from none other than fitness enthusiast and army chief, General Dalbir Singh Suhag who got worried seeing the men working under his command increasing their breadth.
“Soldiers in forward areas tend to put on weight as the fitness regime is not followed. The fresh instructions will make people sharpen their focus to stay in top physical shape,” commented an officer.The survey was conducted by the Defence ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research which escalated that concern further and the army taking this tough step.
With the new rule, a soldier’s promotion will depend upon his waistline. Those having 10% above the ideal body weight will be not included in the promotion list. The soldier’s promotion fate will be in the hands of the officer who writes the ACR. In case someone’s promotion order comes before they have the ideal weight certificate, they will be not allowed to possess the rank unless he gets the certificate which denotes him fit.
Also, chubby officers would not be offered reemployment if they don’t have the fitness certificate having the ideal weight. The army will also put a full stop on overweight officers going on international assignments.
The ones who are safe are specially exempted or war wounded.
Obesity is one major factor among the army personnel in countries like the US, Pakistan and Germany too.