PATNA: They passed out of their schools and finished their higher studies long ago. On Thursday, however, these IPS officers __ 17 of them __ were again in a classroom, learning a lesson or two on `conflict manage-ment’ from an academic.
Shahnaz Mirza, the teacher, was not overawed by her high-profile and high-ranking students, including a DG-rank officer Manoje Nath. She asked them a variety of questions; encouraged them to attempt an answer and, at times, told them to take notes. At the end of the day, both the teacher and her students appeared satisfied.
The special class was organized jointly by LN Mishra Institute of Eco-nomic Development & Social Studies and the state police HQ on the insti-tute campus. Altogether 26 IPS officers from Patna were selected to attend the inaugural day class. Nine of them, however, bunked it.
Those who did make it to the classroom included, besides DG (training) Nath, ADG (training) Abhayanand, AIG (inspection) Vinod Kumar Choudhary, AIG (welfare) HN Deva, AIG (rail) MA Siddiqui, Bihar Po-lice Academy assistant director SH Shukla, Patna SSP Amit Kumar Jain, Patna (city) SP Manu Maharaj, Patna SP (traffic) Ajit Kumar Sinha, vigi-lance SPs Jamal Hasan Khan and Vimal Kumar, STF SP PK Sinha, SP (rail) Vivek Kumar Sinha, SP (SCRB) S Kumar and SP (CID) Arvind Kumar. “70% is not a poor attendance,” Deva later quipped.
Mirza, a PhD and reader in the institute, started off with a question. Do you know what does each letter in the term `CONFLICT’ stand for? After initial hesitation, quite a few students attempted an answer: `C’ for conflict, `O’ for organization, `N’ for naughty, `F’ for fight, `L’ for litigation, `I’ for immediate, `C’ for controversy or complex and `T’ for tension. The teacher was visibly satisfied.
Mirza lectured at length on the kinds of conflicts facing human beings today. “We are human beings and, hence, conflict is essential,” she said and pointed out conflict raises issues and helps the government address them. It also helps people learn to recognise and benefit from their differences. Also, conflict hampers efficiency and productivity, lowers morale and spawns inappropriate conduct, she added.
The uniformed students of conflict management also took two tests. In one such test, they were given a photograph and asked to write a story on it. They submitted their answersheets in time.
Abhayanand later said the training is aimed at developing soft skills among police officers. “It would help them tackle a conflict situation by going to its roots,” he said and added if a situation is handled after going to its roots, the result is better.
Select IPS officers posted in other districts would also attend Mirza’s class, police HQ sources said.