24 engineers train to be sub-inspectors

BENGALURU: What's a young woman postgraduate with eight gold medals doing at the Karnataka Police Academy (KPA) in Mysuru? She is one of the 229 candidates picked for the post of police sub-inspector (PSI), undergoing training at the academy. The profile of recruits at the KPA is an eye-opener. There aren't just postgraduates but engineers, MBA holders, law graduates and more.
The killings of two police PSIs in the line of duty, Mallikarjuna Bande and more recently S Jagadish, haven't deterred applicants. Moreover, the diversity of professional backgrounds of the recruits shows that despite complaints that a PSI is overworked, underpaid and frustrated, the job has many takers. A basic degree is pre-requisite for the post, considered the last rung of officers' cadre.
Among the recruits are 24 engineering graduates and large number of postgraduates, including MSW, MBA, MCA, MCom, MSc and LLM. "Over 30,000 candidates appeared for the written exam and underwent physical tests. Of them, only 229 qualified for the training schedule. Many of them opted for the sheer attraction of the uniformed service," said additional director general of police (ADGP) for recruitment and training Raghavendra H Auradkar.

His deputy, DIG (recruitment and training) B Shivakumar, said what was surprising is the induction of a lady candidate who holds an MA from Bangalore University with eight gold medals to boot. "We have one candidate who did her BSc (nursing) degree. There are as many as 109 BA degree holders," said Shivakumar. Most of the recruits were earlier serving in various departments, including police. There are 18 teachers, two first division clerks, three second division clerks, a forest guard, postal assistant and two village accountants. Also, 120 police personnel, including 33 civil police constables, will now be inducted as PSIs in the department.
Bagalkot district tops the state with 20 new PSIs followed by Belagavi, Vijayapura, Shivamogga and Davanagere with 17 each. Dharwad, Yadgir and Kodagu districts each have just one candidate picked for the job. Among the recruits are six ex-servicemen (five from the Army and one from Navy).
"So far, 223 candidates have reported for the training schedule. Six in-service candidates are yet to get relieved from their services. The training will be in full swing by the end of this month. After a year's training, they will be sent to various police stations across the state as probationers. The probationary period is also for a year," said an officer.