On Saturday, July 31, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with select Indian Police Service (IPS) Probation Officers of the 2019 batch at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy via video conferencing. The interaction with the Officer Trainees had a spontaneous air and the Prime Minister went beyond the official aspects of the Service to discuss the aspirations and dreams of the new generation of police officers.

The virtual event witnessed 144 IPS officers in attendance along with 34 police officers from Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Mauritius.

During the virtual conference with the PM, it was informed that the current batch's two years rigorous training will be ending on August 6 with a passing out ceremony and the title for best trainees would be awarded to two lady officers, Ranjita Sharma and Shreya Gupta.

At the event, PM Modi initiated a one-on-one interaction with seven probationers including Anuj Paliwal, Rohan Jagdish, Gaurav Rai, Ranjita Sharma, Nithin Raj, Navjot Simi and KPS Kishore. 

Rohan Jagdish, IPS probation officer of 2019 batch hailing from Bengaluru
Rohan Jagdish, IPS probation officer of 2019 batch hailing from BengaluruYouTube

Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K. Annamalai, an ex-IPS Officer himself, took to his Twitter account later to express his joy and share his memories of interacting with IPS Probationer Rohan Jagdish from Bengaluru nearly six years ago. 

Talking to International Business Times, he shared, "Rohan's father was my colleague as Addl SP during my tenure as SP Chikkamagluru. I had met Rohan six years ago around the time his father had just retired. He wanted to meet me, seek advice and I invited him home for lunch. That was a long conversation about the Indian police services. I had been tracking his progress through the last few years, and he has not only passed out from the academy but has been an outstanding probationer."

PM Modi spoke to Rohan Jagdish, an ace swimmer from his batch and a second-generation officer, about the Olympics and how to improve training at the academy.

PM Modi interacting with probation officer Ranjita Sharma from Haryana
PM Modi interacting with probation officer Ranjita Sharma from HaryanaYouTube

During the interaction, PM Modi gave unique suggestions to the young officers to enhance their relationship with the people they are going to be serving in the coming years. While he told Ranjita Sharma to spend time outside of work and take initiatives to motivate more young girls to come forward and serve the country; he quoted Sikh Guru Gobind Singh to Punjab officer Navjot Simi which conveyed that one should neither scare anyone nor fear anyone.

K. Annamalai, who nearly inspired a young Rohan Jagdish to pursue his dream of serving the nation through police services feels that often a negative portrayal of the police force outside takes away from the charm of the services.

To the young, he says, "Always the Indian constitution must be the driving force. Secondly, there's got to be fearlessness; it is a service where you cannot be cowed down. Lastly, never lose the bubbling spirit with which you join the forces because it's with that energy that you can continue to serve for the next 25-30 years."