119 Of 122 IPS Officers Flunk Academy Exam

They may be emerging as future police bosses in their respective states, but an overwhelming majority of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of the 2016 regular recruit (RR) batch failed to pass the necessary exams they took before graduating from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad.

Of the 122 IPS officers, 119 failed in one or more subjects. The batch has a total of 136 officers, including 14 from foreign police forces. Despite failing in the exam, the officers graduated and are now probationers in their respective cadres.

But they will have to pass in each subject and will be allowed three attempts to clear the exams. If an officer fails to clear the exams, he/she cannot remain in the service.

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While IAS officers are trained at the Lal Bahadur Shashtri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, IPS officers get their training at SVPNPA. In the 2016 batch, two IPS officers have failed to graduate from the academy.

Of the total 136 officers, 133 failed in one or more subjects, including Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The IPS probationers who failed included those who had received medals and trophies at the passing out parade in October which was attended by Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

All the foreign police officers failed the exams.

An IPS probationer told TOI that the officers are now re-appearing in exams in which they failed during the phase 2 training. "This is an abnormal result which has not happened in the academy's history. Failing in exams is not new. But mass failure is a big thing," he said, adding that 90% of the probationers had failed in basic courses like law and order and internal security.

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The probationer said that marks obtained during training are counted towards seniority and failure in subjects implies a loss of seniority.

TOI is in possession of the controller of examination's list of the 2016 RR batch IPS officers and the subjects in which they failed. Emails sent to the SVPNPA director and administrator remained unanswered.

A significant number of 2017 batch IPS officers, who are currently touring the country as part of Bharat Darshan, also failed in subjects like criminology.

Basic courses during 45-week rigorous training include indoor subjects like Evidence Act, IPC, CrPC, forensic science, forensic medicine, forensics and investigation and outdoor subjects like weapons handling, swimming, yoga, horse riding, field craft, unarmed combat and drill. The exams are conducted in two phases: periodical exam after four to five months of training which is mostly in the form of objective questions and the final exam which is a subjective written test.

The probationers in the 2016 batch include 21 woman officers. There were five officers each from the Royal Bhutan Police Service and Nepal Police Service and four officers from the Maldives Police Service.

An official of SVPNPA told TOI on condition of anonymity that the passing out of probationers from the academy and their on-field posting cannot be stopped despite the officers failing in subjects.