Govt not to outsource training of cops to IIM-A, LSE; SVPNPA to conduct its courses

NEW DELHI: India’s 100 senior police officers who began a month-long training session in Hyderabad on July 14 after spending over two decades in service may not have the pleasure of being guided by the faculty of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and the London School of Economics like their predecessors.

The government has decided to do away with the practice of giving out contracts to these institutions to run the mid-career training programme for Indian Police Service or IPS officers who have put in 24 to 26 years of service.

Instead, the home ministry has instructed the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) to conduct the course "entirely by itself" and invite resource persons from renowned universities, an official told ET. It is not clear whether the SVPNPA would invite the professors of IIMA to speak to the participants, added the official, requesting anonymity.

The IIMA had earlier conducted the course for three weeks at the SVPNPA, sending across its top professors to Hyderabad to brief the senior police officers, arrange corporate leaders for giving talks and also provide quality reading material.

The earlier batches then went to LSE in London for a week for a foreign module. The aim was to orient the participants to a broad-based management exposure from the best management schools in the world, broaden their world view and invest them with conceptual management skills suitable for a worldclass organisation head and not restricted to managing police force alone as the senior officers were soon expected to occupy top positions.

The official, however, added that the ministry was considering ending the system of engaging institutions on contractual basis to run the prestigious course and instead have "faith" in the ability of the SVPNPA, a premier police training institute of the country, to run the course with in-house faculty members and the help of expert resource persons from outside.

The participants at the course this year will, therefore, spend two weeks at the SVPNPA, which will anchor the course on its own and the officers will then go to the USA for a two-week foreign component training where the International Association of Chiefs of Police ( IACP) will anchor and deliver the proposed study tour.

The SVPNPA has associated with the IACP for the training, which has been approved by the home ministry.

The course will run from July 14 to August 8. The IPS officers attending the course are required to complete it successfully in order to be considered for further promotions.