Training of IRPFS Officers will now be held at SVPNPA, Hyderabad.First phase of training of next batch will be held along with IPS Probationers. This will also ensure better co-ordination and co-operation between IRPFS and IPS officers when they are posted in the field units.
The IRPFS (Indian Railway Protection Force Service) officers are recruited by UPSC through Civil Services Examination in Railway Protection Force (RPF). The batch strength of IRPFS probationers is about 5-6 every year. They undergo Foundation Courses at LBSNAA, Mussoorie and National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR), Vadodara, besides undergoing professional training at Jagjivan Ram RPF Academy at Lucknow.
Three batches of IRPFS officers, however, were trained alongside IPS officers earlier in 1998 and 1999 but the arrangement was discontinued in subsequent years.
After inter ministerial consultations between Ministry of Railways and the Ministry of Home Affairs, it has now been decided to re-start the initial training of IRPFS Probationers at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA), Hyderabad along with the first phase of training of next batch of IPS Probationers (i.e. 73 RR) starting in the winter of 2020.
The training in SVPNPA will equip the IRPFS officers to manage the railway security more effectively and professionally. This will also ensure better co-ordination and co-operation between IRPFS and IPS officers when they are posted in the field units. The increasing significance of railway security in the national security set-up calls for better professional competence of the RPF leadership which will be achieved if they train and work together with IPS officers from the start of their careers.
