West Bengal cadre IPS officer Aishwariya Sagar who hails from the city got the rare opportunity to speak in front of the President at a call-on function at Rashtrapati Bhavan after the completion of her training.
Aishwariya, belonging to the 2017 batch (71 RR) of IPS officers who passed out from Sardar Valabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, was one of the four selected to speak in front of President Ram Nath Kovind at the call-on by the batch of 129 officers in October.
At the formal affair, Aishwariya, alumna of St. Thomas Residential School here and Lady Shri College for Women, New Delhi, shared her experiences of the 11-month training at the police academy during her three-and-a-half minute presentation in front of the President.
Aishwariya, who is also the first woman IPS officer from Kerala in the West Bengal cadre, says after clearing the Civil Services examination one tends to feel it is the end of a journey but only when the trainees enter the academy do they realise it is only the start.
The IPS training, she says, is one of the toughest in the Civil Services, and it was this that she recounted in front of the President when she said the first three months were taxing, both mentally and physically, for majority of the trainees.
Aishwariya recalls long days starting at 4.30 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m. with six hours of physical training, rehab, swimming, and so on.
Training
The gruelling training that transformed them into committed and disciplined officers with multi-dimensional skills was also touched upon by her.
The officers’ attachment with Central police organisations and the Army to understand the diversities in policing was mentioned by Aishwariya, particularly the jungle survival that they learnt from the Greyhounds.
The fag end of the training included a 40-km route march, where the trainees had to carry 15 kg of battle load and a five-kg rifle.
The police, she says, are the first recourse of the common man for justice and as a police officer, she is glad to represent them.
