The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : A mother and an officer

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Saturday, Sep 13, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

A mother and an officer

N. Rahul

Humble beginnings notwithstanding, a mother of two children makes it to the IPS this year

B. Raja Kumari

HYDERABAD: When B. Raja Kumari graduates from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy here next month as an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS), the small-built woman will be stepping into the tough world of policing as a mother of two children, aged five and three.

She says her motherhood did not deter her from going through the strenuous physical training at the academy in the last ten months. On a par with fitness standards for men trainees, she participated in running, drill, unarmed combat, firing and field tactics for two sessions a day. Though she found the training tough initially, her determination saw her through.

She will be among 87 IPS probationers to take salute at the passing-out parade to be reviewed by President Pratibha Patil on October 25. Her husband D. Balaiah is Sub-Inspector in Prohibition and Excise at Guntur and her father B. Prakasam a High Court advocate.

Ms. Kumari secured the highest rank among Scheduled Caste candidates from Andhra Pradesh in the Civil Services exam of 2006.

A.P. cadre

With a rank of 265, she was selected to the IPS and allotted to Andhra Pradesh cadre. She had two children by then. Ms. Kumari had a modest beginning in life, having pursued education in Telugu medium up to fifth standard in a government school in her Palagudem village in West Godavari and later studied in the Social Welfare Residential School at Denduloor. She shifted to English medium while doing B.Sc. in Eluru and completed her M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from Andhra University after which she set for herself the goal of passing the Civil Services.

After a stint of about five years in the State government, she took the Civil Services exam in 2004 and appeared for the interview when she was pregnant. She made it to the IPS in the next attempt. A faculty member of NPA said it was a matter of pride to have Ms. Kumari.

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