As part of the Dikshant Parade, 131 IPS probations marched together and took the pledge to serve the nation at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad on Friday. The passing out parade is a landmark occasion in the life of any IPS officer. The event marks the conclusion of two years of basic training at the SVPNPA. Yet another batch of trained IPS officers have been released to their respective state cadre.
While virtually addressing the IPS probationers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Guest at the event interacted with the officers at length. Speaking to the young officers he said, “Till now you have been working as a trainee in a protective environment. The situation will now change overnight, the moment you step out of the academy. Their attitude towards you will change. Be over conscious, the first impression is the last impression. Wherever you are transferred your image will follow. Be careful.” The PM also told the officers that in the past he had invited the probationers to his home, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he would have to give the opportunity a miss.
This year’s passing out parade was commanded by Kiran Shruthi D.V, the best all-round probationer of the batch. Kiran who hails from Chennai is the fourth woman in the history of the academy to command the Dikshant Parade, considered to be a prestigious honour for any IPS probationer. Kiran won the Prime Minister’s Baton and the Home Minister’s Revolver for being the best all-round probationer of the present batch. She was allotted Tamil Nadu as her home cadre.
The three other women officers who have led the prestigious parade in the past are Laxmi Singh in 2000, Isha Pant in 2011, and Shalini Agnihotri in 2013 respectively.
The present batch consists of 121 officers from the 2018 (71RR) batch and 10 students from the 2017 batch (70RR). Out of the total of 131 who graduated on Friday, 28 are lady probationers.
A staggering 58% of the total, 76 out of 131 probationers are engineers, 10% are from the science background, 23% are from the Arts and Commerce stream and the batch also has 4 doctors.
The batch started training at the NPA on December 17 in 2018. The course is divided into phase-1 and phase-2, in between which, as part of their course, they also had to complete 28 weeks of district practical training.
SVPNPA Director Atul Karwal presided over the Dikshant Parade. Addressing the probationers, he said, “The nation has high expectations from you and I am confident that you will rise to the occasion each and every time.” He also added that the training at the academy would surely bring out the best in every officer. The Director, who is a 1988 batch IPS officer from Gujarat cadre also reminded the young officers that their own comfort would come last each and every time.
Out of all the IPS officers, five have been allotted to the Andhra Pradesh cadre and eleven including two women, have been allotted to the Telangana cadre. The Uttar Pradesh cadre was allotted 15 officers including 4 women, which is the cadre that has been allotted the maximum number of officers. Telangana cadre follows with 11 officers and then comes Assam and Meghalaya with 10 IPS officers being allotted. The average age of the officers in the batch is 28 years.