Bengaluru: Her office décor speaks about her love for minimalism and ‘come to the point’ attitude. A spruced-up office with a bunch of freshly cut red roses sits pretty in a vase on the wooden console near the big window that overlooks a verdant stretch of rain trees.
A veteran intelligence officer with more than two decades of experience in the Intelligence Bureau the new Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Neelamani N. Raju believes in “lending more sensitivity, giving attention to detail, multi-tasking and chasing (investigation/case) to the last mile,” she crisply described herself in a freewheeling interview with the Deccan Chronicle.
How would you like to use your experience as an Intelligence officer as the DG&IGP?
Intelligence is a basic function of the police. It is not divested of police content. Ground Intelligence based on actionable inputs helps the police to predict the possible fallout of any event or mishap that may disrupt law and order in the region. Good Intelligence improves monitoring and helps in the maintenance of public order.
You are the first woman police chief in the state. How did your male colleagues receive you?
I have received a tremendous welcome from everyone in the department and the public. I have not felt resistance from any quarter.
Do you feel the additional burden being a woman head of police force?
Yes. Unfortunately, a woman always has to prove herself. It’s an unending game. I have agreed to be a part of it. I’ve chosen it and I am fine with it. Whether you like it or not, it’s a man’s world. I see myself as a police officer first.
Were you expecting to be appointed as the DG&IGP?
I felt I was equally and well qualified to be appointed as the police chief. There was nothing against me.
What are the challenges before you?
There are topical challenges, of day-to-day administration and long-term challenges, of meeting the demands and requirements of police function and duty with the resources at hand. Police officials are supposed to play multiple roles. We are always short of time. Manpower management is a very big challenge. Everyone, from the constable to the chief, has to be motivated to perform their duties. Karnataka has one of the finest police forces in the country. We should maintain the state as it is, peaceful and beautiful.
Who has been your motivation?
My mother has been my guiding light. She had motivated me to appear for the All-India Civil Services exam. I qualified and got into the IPS. She continues to motivate me. I am also blessed with a very supportive and loving family.
What would you like to change in the department?
I will not hesitate if something needs to be changed for the better, Change is the only constant. I would like to improve the public image of our police and police-public relationship, at the police station level.
On a personal level, I’m a perfectionist and a minimalist. I don’t like clutter around me. I would like the settings in my office and would love to have some fresh flowers.
Only woman police chief in country
Neelamani is not only the first woman DG&IGP of Karnataka, but she is also at present the only woman IPS officer to be heading a state police or Central Armed Police Force in the country. Her seniors in the IPS – DGP, SSB, Archana Ramasundram of 1980 batch, and DGP, BPR&D, Meera Chaddha Borwankar of 1981 batch, have retired very recently. Neelamani is from the 1983 batch of IPS (Karnataka cadre) and has served in the IB for 23 years. She returned to the state last year and was appointed as the DGP, Internal Security Division till her appointment as the head of police force on October 31.
