Offers of help for obese cop in tweet, he worries about career

AN EXPERT from the Mumbaibased Center for Obesity and Digestive Surgery met Inspector Daulataram Jogawat in Neemuch on Saturday, offering to help him reduce his weight. Earlier, Indore’s Aurobindo Hospital said they could treat him for free.

The subject of all this attention, however, isn’t sure whether it will do him any good.

The Madhya Pradesh police official, or more specifically his weight problem, became a national topic when author and columnist Shobhaa De tweeted his picture to poke fun at the Maharashtra Police’s “heavy bandobast”. The Maharashtra Police was quick to point out that the man in the photo was not one of their own. Others noticed that the photo had actually been in circulation for the past three years, used every time to make a point about overweight policemen. Within days, the trail had led to the door of 57-year-old Jogawat, posted in Police Lines, Neemuch.

Set to retire in three years, Jogawat worries what the image will do to his career. “I never had a problem carrying out my duties. My seniors are happy with my work, I have no health issues. I don’t know why everybody including the media is making my life difficult. If I am harassed like this, I may have to end my career early,” Jogawat told The Sunday Express.

Originally from Rajasthan, Jogawat was born in Ratlam and joined the MP Police as a constable in 1979. Till the early 1990s, he says, he weighed only 75 kg and was, at 5’10’’, a fit man. But after a gall bladder operation, he started putting on weight. Jogawat says nothing he tried worked, including Ayurveda treatment. “After my police duties and family responsibilities, I do not have time or money to think of any other treatment.”

De tweeted an old photograph of his, taken when he was a sub-inspector. Since he was promoted to Inspector in 2015, he sports three stars and a better uniform.

Neemuch SP Manoj Kumar Singh says they have no issues with Jogawat. “Obesity in police is not a phenomenon unique to us. Police forces across the world suffer from this because policemen keep irregular hours, and don’t eat and sleep on time. Jogawat is fit and rides a twowheeler and also drives a fourwheeler,” he says. “There is no rule to remove overweight cops from duty,” he adds.

About offers of medical help for Jogawat, Singh says the police welfare board can sanction up to Rs 8 lakh for a policeman’s treatment while the additional director general of police in-charge of police welfare can give more money.

But Jogawat, whose last posting was at Ujjain and who was on duty during the Simhastha Kumbh, isn’t sure whether he is ready for a surgery to lose weight. “I will first undergo a medical check-up and speak to my family members before deciding on a surgery or any similar treatment,” he says.

At work, his colleagues are understanding and don’t make fun of him, while his seniors have helped out in any way they could, Jogawat adds. The seniors let him sit out the parades too, to avoid unwanted attention.

With that gone now, Jogawat says all he hopes is to be able to stick around till November 2020, when he retires.

Daulataram Jogawat