Till a few years ago, Shweta Chauhan was a lecturer at Delhi University and analysed Shakespeare and John Keats with her students. Now she spends more than 12 gruelling hours in a police station to train as an Indian Police Service officer and is enjoying every moment of it
Like Chauhan, there are many other professionals, including a doctor, a psychologist and a copy editor who have quit their comfortable well-paying jobs to join the IPS. Currently 10 such IPS trainees, including three women, are undergoing training at various police stations in the capital.
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Chauhan, who used to take three to four lectures in a day during her eight-hour duty as a lecturer, is enjoying the tough training.
"After my work as a lecturer for three years, this job is definitely more challenging, but I am prepared for it and am enjoying it to the hilt," Chauhan told IANS.
"I am reminded of the old days when I would teach students in the morning and go for my M.Phil classes in the evening," she added.
Besides Chauhan, the others are: Santosh Kumar Meena, Rajender Pradhan Meena, Amit Sharma, Sagar Singh Kalsi, Eish Singhal, Isha Pandey, Vijender Kumar Yadav, Benita Mary Jaiker and A. Koan - all from diverse professional backgrounds.
Benita Mary Jakier, a 26-year-old psychologist, decided to quit her profession due to her deep attraction for the 'uniform'. She cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam in her first attempt and secured the rank 120.
"If I were not an IPS official, I would try for the military or navy because I like the uniform," Jaiker told IANS.
"This profession is not as easy as other people think it to be. During my SHO training, I was able to sleep only for four hours in three days. But the feel of the uniform on my shoulders enhances my stamina and I forget my tiredness," said Jaiker.
Eish Singhal, who has done his MBBS, was treating patients in a civil hospital in Punjab for one year before his selection in IPS in 2010.
He attempted the UPSC exam twice and managed to secure a seat for himself in his second attempt.
Explaining his IPS training experience, Singhal told IANS: "It's easy to diagnose and treat patients' diseases, but to handle crime and criminal activities is not an easy task. Every day I have been facing a new kind of criminal activity."
Isha Pandey, who had completed her master's degree in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), got selected in the UPSC in her third attempt when she was pursuing her Ph.D. She was at the time also working as a copy editor with a leading daily in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh.
Pandey told IANS that the police service is not just a job; "as an IPS one has to prepare to deal with any unprecedented incident 24 hours".
"When I am deputed to handle a district or more than one police station, it would be really very challenging," said Pandey.
The 10 trainee officers say the reason for them changing professions to pursue a career as an IPS officer is the desire to serve people by learning their real problems.
"The batch of 10 IPS officers is on their first phase training here since this January. From July 29, they will get the second phase training at the New Police Academy (NPA) in Hyderabad, before their deployment," Joint Commissioner of Police (Training) Robin Hibu told IANS.
Hibu explained that the training is necessary for an IPS official to understand "real policing from the level of a beat constable to inspector".
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