All About Indian Police Service Limited Competitive Examination

Dear Candidate,
Recently the Union Public Service Commission has published notification regarding the limited Competitive examination for the purpose of filling vacancies in the India Police Service examination, to recruit the same in notification it has mention about the syllabus & Plan of examination, that is the Indian Police Service Limited Competitive Examination will consist of two successive stages:—

1. Written examination &
2. Personality Test

However before the actual preparation Candidate must be aware of the objective behind the formulation of Syllabus for the recruitment of the candidate, and before that one must be aware of few things those includes:—

1. Why Government introduce this examination i.e. why only through limited competitive examination
2. What are the nature of this Service
3. What UPSC is expecting from a candidate
4. Why the syllabus is formulated in the present manner

If you could rightly able to understand the logic behind these questions. Then it will be very easy for you to prepare in the right direction, because there is no ready reference question papers available of this examination, so here your only guide is your syllabus. So you must understand the logic and objective behind the formulation of the same syllabus. If you able to do so then half of your work has been complete the remaining part will be to collect good study materials in accordance with your requirement.

Here my intention is to elaborately mention about the above questions. In the first part of my article I will elaborate about the same. In the second part of my article I will provide a strategy and road map for this examination and last part of my article I will give a comparison list between limited IPS examination and the regular Civil Services Examination. So that you could able to formulate right approach required for this examination.

Why Government Introduce Indian Police Service Limited Competitive Examination?

The existence of a large number of vacancies in the Indian Police Service (IPS), in different States as well as various Central Police Organisations (CPOs), has become a current day problem for internal security situation of the country. Vacancies exist largely at the crucial cutting edge levels of SPs and DIGs, affecting the smooth functioning of most of our internal security agencies. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, therefore, initiated to introduce Indian Police Service Limited Competitive Examination for recruiting the same. before formulating the best method of recruitment, the expert committee of ministry of home affairs has discussed various options regarding the Recruitment Plan for Indian Police Service, and after due deliberations and consultations they have given more preference to recruit the candidate for this service in the present recruitment plan. In this context the Workshop of May 22, 2009, held at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, also give more preference for the recruitment in the same manner due to these following reasons :

The Main Advantages of Induction Through Limited Competitive Examination (LCE) Will be:—

• The inductees would have already had previous background and experience in policing and police organizations and their integration will be smooth. Since they have already undergone training in their previous service, the induction training for them can be condensed to a period of 3 – 4 months.

• The period of practical training will also be very short.

• Further, the tenure of posting as Sub-Divisional Police Officer before assuming charge of SP-level posts can be considerably shortened for those who have already held such charges in their previous service. For the officers who happen to get allotted to their own States, this requirement can be dispensed with altogether. For those allotted to States other than where they have served earlier, a period of 6 months would suffice. Officers from CPOs will anyway have to undergo this posting for full 2 years. Existing vacancies at the level of SP can, thus, be filled up fast.

• An added advantage offered by the scheme of LCE would be that it would open a fast-track channel for brighter officers in the State Police Services to get into IPS. It may be mentioned that the National Police Commission (NPC) had specifically recommended this for IPS recruitment, to the extent of 16.66% of vacancies in the cadre, to be opened for not just DSPs but all ranks of police officers In fact, it would be worthwhile to consider introducing it as a regular additional channel of induction into the IPS, for the long-term as well, apart from direct recruitment through the Civil Services Examination and induction through the promotion quota.

Recommendation of the Expert Committee (Kamal Kumar, IPS) Regarding the Methods of Recruitment Through Limited Competitive Examination

Limited Competitive Examination (LCE) must be conducted by the UPSC, maintaining a high level of rigour in the selection process and that can be evaluated by following the syllabus mention below:

• The syllabus for the examination should centre around the conceptual and practical aspects of policing and internal security, besides general studies and report writing skills, which should again be oriented to the needs of the police service.

• Conceptual aspects should, inter alia, include applied elements of disciplines relevant to policing, such as Criminology (etiology of crime, criminogenic factors, penology, victim logy, juvenile delinquency, social defence and other methods of crime prevention, etc.)

• Psychology (like mob-psychology and psychogenic causes of criminality) Forensic Science, etc.

• Besides subjects of current-day importance, such as terrorism, left extremism, separatist and other violent movements and the like.

• Practical aspects in the paper may cover day-to-day policing issues and problems, with questions focused on problem solving and practical handling of situations.
• In the interview process, effort should be made to include as many psychometric tests as feasible.

Hence the syllabus degined by the UPSC for this examination reflect the same vision, you can analyse the same by comparing the syllabus along with the expert committees recommendation.

Examination Syllabus

National Security: Structure and functions of Defence Forces, Para Military Forces and Police. Origin, growth and dimensions of fundamentalism, militancy and terrorism. Local, regional , national and international dimensions of organized crime and terrorism; and efforts at countering them. “White-collar” and cyber crime, money laundering and tax-havens. Technology in crime detection, prevention and investigation, including forensics. Weapons and weapons training that a uniformed officer should be aware of. Food security, energy security, water security, technological self-reliance as a part of security objectives, Disaster Management including natural and man made disasters.

Other then this there are some values and norms expected from an IPS officer those are:

• Such values and norms as would help them serve the people better. In particular, it will try to inculcate integrity of the highest order, sensitivity to aspirations of people in a fast changing social and economic milieu, respect for human rights, broad liberal perspective of law and justice, high standard of professionalism, etc. 

• To lead/command the force with courage, uprightness, dedication and a strong sense of service to the people.

So to examine the same, the UPSC has mentioned the following topics in your syllabus, those are:

1. The Indian economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
2. Issues arising from the social and economic exclusion of large sections from the benefits of development.
3. Other issues relating to the development and management of human resource.
4. Health issues including the management of Public Health, Health education and ethical concerns regarding health-care.
5. Law enforcement, internal security and related issues such as the preservation of communal harmony.
6. Issues relating to good governance and accountability to the citizens including the maintenance of human rights, and of probity in public life.
7. Environmental issues, ecological preservation, conservation of natural resources and national heritage.
8. India’s diversity, unity amidst diversity and pluralism as a part of the functioning of Indian Society. Conflicts due to political, economic, social and cultural reasons. Conflict resolution.
9. Democratic rights and privileges of citizens. Emerging social changes/trends relevant to governance.

Now you can understand that the nature of Indian Police Services are different from the other all India Services, so the syllabus mention for this examination is quit different from the regular Civil Services Examinations conducted by UPSC, hence you can expect the nature of question will be different from the regular civil services examinations. Moreover there are several changes UPSC has made in your syllabus as compare with the civil services syllabus, those I will explain in latter part of my article the most important aspects here is that your approach and strategy should be different from the civil services examination and must be complied in accordance with the requirement of this examination.

Thank You
May God Bless You