As a quagmire of controversy build up around top cops in
various swathes of the country, former Director, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
National Police Academy, Hyderabad AP Durai has mooted a proposal to fork out
IPS (Indian Police Service) recruitment from the combined Civil Service
Examination.
In his autobiography 'Pursuit of law and order,' Mr
Durai who held various positions in the country’s top
notch security set-up said that youth,aged 20-24 years, be picked up
for the service with mandatory physical tests to be conducted by Sports Authority
of India (SAI); weight age for performance in sports, NCC etc; compulsory
degree in law forensic Science /criminology / social sciences.
He has also batted for physical fitness checks every five
years and tough standards prescribed for promotion to higher ranks as in the
case of defence forces.
“ I am sure that such steps will impart a new character to
the service and provide the environment for its members to develop a specialist
/professional approach to their work and to take police service out of love for
it and not continuing it as one of the alternatives if they do not make it to
the IAS or central services”, Mr Durai said.
Former DG of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) Mr
Durai,sifting through his experience in the Police Academy and other slots,was
candid to assert that IPS should be rescued from
the quagmire of existing rules of UPSC by giving it a
specialist character and the “aura of a professional career”.
Mr Durai has elaborated the age limit factor and said
he had observed a few candidates in each batch were in
their late thirties .
“Such persons would be forty of age when they
completed their physical training and were posted at ASPs though the police
service demand physical and mental agility and a risk taking capacity.
Mr Durai, who was posted in the Academy in mid
nineties, said he had broached the subject with the Home Ministry
which then referred the matter to the Department of Personnel who had convened
a meeting of all heads of training academies of different services. Mr Durai
made a point in the meeting that IPS demanded a careful approach and
the age limit could be different from that of other services.
The meeting could not lead to the executive decision
,so he had had taken up the issue with then Minister of state for personnel
Margaret Alva for discussions with then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao.
“ Mr Durai ,I do not think your suggestion will be
accepted by the government . The PM ( Rao) has ruled it out as it
has political implications”, was the crisp reply of Ms. Alva to Mr Durai after
her meeting with then PM.
Proponent of the reforms in the IPS , Mr Durai
recalled his role in scrapping the sandwich pattern of IPs training in the NPA
to pave way for return to basic training in one stretch.
The Sandwich pattern in practice earlier had mandated
an opportunity for probationers to have their practical training in the
districts and then come back to the second phase of training in the NPA. Thus
their training in the NPA has been divided into two equal parts .
But the system ,the book said, did not take into account the reality that the
trainees were not same when they returned from their practical training .
Having being treated as ASPs ,and having tested the respect and privileges
accorded by the force to IPS officers, they were not able to undergo the drill
and marching , thus faculty lose their control on probationers.
In 1995, the Home Ministry expressed keenness to
revise the training schedule to include two to three months attachments to the
CRPF and BSF to expose them to operational rigors in disturbed
areas. There were two reasons : young IPS officers were not keen to
be commandants during their deputation in BSF or CRPF and secondly ,many of
them would take up leadership position in central police
organizations without any exposure to field operations.
The problem was how to fit in the additional period of two or three months required for such an attachment.
The problem was how to fit in the additional period of two or three months required for such an attachment.
Mr Durai said as NPA Director , he told the
Home Ministry that the academy will complete the basic training in ten months
then they can go to training in states for two months as before. On
completing they would go for attachment to the central Para Military forces.
They would only get back to the NPA for debriefing for a week and
then go states for regular postings.
The Home Ministry agreed to the proposal and disjointed sandwich pattern of training thus came to an end.
The Home Ministry agreed to the proposal and disjointed sandwich pattern of training thus came to an end.
Well summarised. One small correction - the solution that was agreed to was- basic training at one stretch for ten months followed by practical training for ten months in the respective states, two or three months of attachment to Para military forces in operational areas and then return to the NPA Hyderabad for two weeks. Some tweaking has been done in this subsequently, but the basic training in one stretch has come to stay.
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