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A yoga camp started on Friday for police personnel of all ranks in Prayagraj.

The session, under trained yoga expert Ashish Pandey, has been designed to help the personnel overcome stress and fatigue and reduce extra kilos by doing yoga and meditation in order to improve their well-being and boost efficiency.

IG (Prayagraj Range) Rakesh Singh told reporters: "We have decided to organise yoga and meditation sessions from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. every day. By practising yoga, there will be improvement in physical and mental fitness of policemen."

He said officers of all ranks have joined the session.

The IG said that he had earlier introduced yoga and meditation sessions for the cops, which improved the well-being of the participants.

"It was observed that none of the policeman fell sick during Covid first and second waves. Policemen work for long hours and often suffer from fatigue and stress that also reflected in their behaviour. Thus, yoga will help in de-stressing themselves," he said.

Symptoms of stress and fatigue include behavioural change, headache, drowsiness during duty, inability to stand upright, irritation and misbehaviour.

Senior cops believe that about 20 to 30 per cent policemen are obese and yoga along with routine exercises and parade will help them to shed the extra weight and be physically and mentally fit.

Those who attended the session on the first day said yoga has undoubtedly eased tension in different ways.

"Keeping our mobile phones away for at least an hour was itself a much-needed relief. Most of us suffer from insomnia and other issues like kidney problems, indigestion, breathing and weight concerns. Policemen stand for long hours, spend sleepless nights, eat unhealthy food from outside and have anxiety issues given the nature of our work. So, yoga and meditation will work wonders for us," said a police inspector.