BENGALURU: Former DG&IGP and CBI Director-designate Praveen Sood reached out to the nearly one-lakh-strong police force in Karnataka with a personal note of gratitude on Monday, the day he handed over charge to his successor and in charge DG&IGP Alok Mohan.
“Constables are the best judges of officers,” wrote the former head of police force (HOPF) asking IPS officers “not to wait to occupy a particular position to make institutional improvements. Each position gives us an opportunity to contribute towards the growth of the force. In fact, low-profile jobs give one better space to make systemic changes.
Media may not notice it, but an average constable does. They are the best judges of officers. I wait for the day when subordinates and not immediate superior could write one’s ACR (annual confidential record),” penned Sood.
He candidly described the nature of work as HOPF -- the highest post an IPS officer can reach in his cadre state. “In fact as HOPF, if something I can boast about, it was my role as chief scavenging officer.
Old vehicles, dilapidated buildings, old records, junk.. all were disposed of. Incidentally, it also brought money to the exchequer. Scavenging was not restricted only to physical garbage. Old procedures, practices and protocols which had outlived the test of time and utility were given a silent burial,” wrote Sood.
Covid-19 was biggest challenge, says Sood
Speaking about his personal journey -- 37 years in the Karnataka cadre, barring the three-year stint as police advisor to the Government of Mauritius, Sood said, “Working was easier. However, leading the force as HOPF was much more challenging. But I could discharge this responsibility because of unstinted support from each of my colleagues from the constable to DG. At times, I did feel lonely at the top, but those moments were few,” he stated.
Opening his heart out to the police personnel, Sood said he had spent early years of his life in a house “measuring 45 sqm. I had never imagined that I would live as HOPF in a house spread over 3 acres.”
In fact, it was this experience of childhood that Sood, today looks back at ‘Police Gruha - 2020 with the “greatest satisfaction” in his entire career. It was “not because we constructed 10,000 quarters, but because I could give dignity to the families of policemen by giving them two-bedroom and two-toilet houses,” he stated.
He said his second most satisfying tenure was in KSRP, where he “could give meaning to the careers of the constabulary.” He described Covid 19 as the biggest challenge in his tenure as HOPF.
On personal letdowns in his career, Sood admitted that “complete trust in colleagues led to being let down badly.. twice in my career, including once as HOPF. Despite these. I could not, to date, stop trusting my colleagues completely.”
He admitted that at times he would have appeared to be a man in a hurry, wanting tomorrow’s work to be completed yesterday. “I considered every day as my last day on the post wanting to finish the agenda. At times, I would have been harsh because I felt that the ambition of pleasing everyone would not let me achieve my objective of development of the department.”
Sood thanked the rank and file of the police force and extended apologies “for anything that may have caused anguish to any of you because it was totally unintended” and confessed that like every other human being, he too has his own limitations and failings. “Karnataka may not be my janmabhumi (birthplace) but is my karmabhumi (place of action). I look forward to my return to Kannadanadu after two years,” stated Sood while signing off.