Since '48, nobody has done this
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 26 — A local lad has done the city proud by becoming the first-ever probationer of the Indian Police Service (IPS) to have won all the top honours at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad.

The 25-year-old Vivek Sharma, who commanded the passing out parade of the 51 batch, has become the first probationer to have won the Prime Minister's Baton and the Home Ministry's Revolver for the best allround trainee IPS officer. Both awards have been won separately each year but no one has bagged them individually since the inception of the academy in 1948.

Besides this, he also won the IPS Association's Sword of Honour for the best outdoor IPS trainee, the Maharaj Singh Cup for games and sports and the SRB Cup for drill.

Talking to TNS at his parent's house in Sector 24, the Madhya Pradesh cadre officer said he initially thought of improving his 61st position in the civil services exam but after having won so many honours he did not want to do so and is perfectly contended in donning the uniform.

A complete outdoor person, he was the junior table tennis champion of Haryana. He said most of his spare time has always been spent perfecting one game or the other and his interests were vast. He not only won the badminton singles and doubles titles but also swept the lawn tennis and table tennis doubles and won silver medals in 110-metre hurdles, 100-metre run and a bronze in triple jump.

After doing his matriculation from Government Model School, Sector 20, he graduated from DAV College, Sector 10, and went on to do his B. Tech from IIT, Bombay. He is all praise for the guidance of his teachers and the facilities provided by Panjab University and was a permanent fixture in the outer reading room of the university while preparing for his exams.

His father is Mr P.C. Sharma, Chief Engineer, PWD (B and R), Haryana, while his mother is a housewife. he said his parents stood behind him all the way and were encouragement personified when he failed to clear the mains in his first attempt.

"I firmly believe that while hard work always pays, luck also plays a major role in shaping one's destiny. I have seen brighter, more intelligent and hard working persons not making the mark. I used to put in five to six hours of study each day which went up to seven to eight hours towards examination days", he revealed.

Recalling his days at the academy, he said the training and initiation seemed a daunting prospect initially, but as one goes along it becomes a habit as the fitness standards rise. "I have been through 42-km route marches and negotiated cliffs that at first sight seemed insurmountable," he added laughingly with a shake of his head.

All praise for Mr P.V. Rajgopal, Director of the academy, he said keeping with the technological advances, many changes had been initiated in the training and other allied fields by him.

Now probationers are asked to maintain a well groomed look and computers have been given to all of them to have minimum paper work. Similarly, the trainees are told of the marks awarded to them after each course so that they could make up in the areas they were lagging behind.

A major change has been the decision to make the 400 marks awarded at the Director's discretion transparent. Earlier, the basis of the marks were not made public, but now the marks have been broken down and are awarded as per the performance of the trainees in various areas.

The Director has even installed closed-circuit TVs in the classrooms to test the response levels of the trainees during the day, particularly after gruelling sessions in the field, he added in a lighter vein.

He particularly remembers a moment when he was looking at the honour scroll of the academy when the Director, who was passing by, said: "Since you belong to Chandigarh it will be interesting to know that the present Punjab DGP, Mr Sarabjeet Singh, was also the best trainee in the 1963 batch".

Another officer of Chandigarh to have bagged the best cadet award was Mr Atul Karwal, an officer of the 1988 batch, at present posted in Gujarat.

Busy packing, Vivek leaves tomorrow and is looking forward to his posting, the orders for which would be issued when he reports at Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.

Plea to complete community centre
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Nov 26 — The House Owners Welfare Association of Sector 11 here has written a letter to the Chief Minister to ensure completion of the community centre in the sector.

The President of the association, Mr U.S. Sharma, has said that the foundation stone for the community centre was laid in November 1997, and was proposed to be completed within a year as promised by the then Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal. Two years have passed since then but the authorities concerned have not managed to complete it, he said.

The association has also urged to the chief minister for issuing instructions to the authorities concerned for constructing the first floor of the community centre. Mr Sharma said there was no provision of a library in the centre as provided in other sectors of the town, where retired and old persons could spend their leisure time.

Police post lacks telephone
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Nov 26 — The police post in Ramgarh, which covers 32 villages in the district, is without a telephone connection. Residents of the area say it is difficult to get help from the police at the required time due to this.

The police post is located in a small room of a local bank in the area. It has not enough space to accommodate complainants, said the residents. People in the area feel insecure in the wake of a spurt in the crime in the district. They have appealed to the Superintendent of Police, Mr Sudhir Chaudhary, to ensure basic facilities at the post for their safety in the area.