Son of famous police officer, Late Rajbir Singh, who was known more as an encounter specialist, Mr. Rohit Rajbir Singh is an IPS officer of 2015 batch and AGMUT cadre and is currently posted in Delhi as DCP. He was instrumental in taking down terrorists involved in the attack on Red Fort in 2000 and then on Parliament in 2001.
Inspired by his father, Mr. Singh also wanted to join the police force and impact lives. “Dreaming of becoming an officer is important. Getting into the services is also important. However, the real deal is what are you going to do after getting into the services,” he says.
INSPIRED BY FATHER
While speaking on a media platform, Mr. Singh mentioned that he comes from a mix background. While almost everyone in his maternal side is in the army, the paternal side is into police. Due to this, he was fascinated with uniform since childhood. However, he chose police as a career. He says, “I have seen both but I closely saw the work that my father did. He was my biggest inspiration. I witnessed how his small steps could change and impact lives of many. So, I also decided to be in police.”
When Mr. Singh had started dreaming about his career, his father died and everything was shattered. He was in class 12th. “I had to grow up in one night. I realised that too many responsibilities were on me, so, I thought of choosing a career which can give me a secure job. I went for engineering.”
IPS WAS HIS FIRST CHOICE
When he was in third year of college, his family’s situation also stablised. He then thought of pursuing his dream and asked two years time from his mother. After she agreed, he prepared and gave the first attempt just after completing his engineering. He reached the interview round but couldn’t make it to the final list. In the second attempt, he got through. “I had less time but my friends helped me. We studied together, divided the syllabus and taught each other. This way we could cover everything without taking coaching.” He also added that since he wanted to become a police officer like his father, so IPS was obviously his first preference.
FOCUS ON SMALL THINGS
Mr. Singh emphasises that most people think that life is sorted after clearing UPSC, it will go on auto-mode. “This is wrong attitude. There is no point in coming into service if you will become directionless. One should be clear about what he or she wants to do after they get into services. There are thousands of police officers in the country but if you want to stand out, you need to know why you joined it in the first place.”
He also mentions that everyone should focus on small things first, like solving a problem of one man, for instance. “From an individual, you can then reach to a neighbourhood, society and then the whole district. I tend to look after small problems. Big changes then happen automatically,” he said.