Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Indian Police Service (IPS) probationers through a video conference on Friday and said they should be proud of their uniform and never lose its respect.

“Never lose the respect for your Khaki uniform. The human face of Khaki uniform has been engraved in the public memory due to the good work done by police specially during this Covid-19,” he said during the ‘Dikshant Parade Event’ at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad.

PM Modi said he regularly interacts with young IPS officers who have passed out from the academy, but this year due to coronavirus he was unable to meet them.

“But I’m sure that during my tenure, I will surely meet you all at some point,” he said.

Addressing the IPS probationers, PM Modi said, “Yours is a profession where the factor of encountering something unexpected is very high, and you all must be alert and prepared for this. There is a higher degree of stress, and which is why it is important to keep speaking with your near and dear ones. From time to time, maybe on a day off, meet someone like a teacher or someone whose advice you value.”

PM Modi urged women police personnel to engage women in Jammu and Kashmir to prevent youth from taking to terrorism at an early stage itself.

Responding to a woman probationer, Modi heaped praises on the people of the union territory, saying they were “lovely” people.

“I am very connected to these people. They treat you with so much love…we have to stop those who take the wrong path. Women can do that,” he said.

He also noted that yoga and pranayama were great ways to beat the stress.

A total of 131 IPS probationers including 28 lady Probationers have completed 42 weeks of Basic Course Phase-I training at the Academy.

They joined the Academy on December 17, 2018, after completing their Foundation Course at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie and at Dr Marri Channa Reddy HRD Institute of Telangana, Hyderabad.

During the Basic Course Training at SVPNPA, probationers have imparted training in various indoor and outdoor subjects like law, investigation, forensics, leadership and management, criminology, public order and internal security.