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Dudem Vinaykanth spent the last seven years in Delhi inching closer to his childhood dream. Twice he had come close, but it was only in his third attempt did he crack the UPSC Civil Services. The 29-year-old, whose father and uncle are police constables in Telangana, says the feeling of success is yet to sink in. An aeronautical engineer by qualification, he secured an all India rank of 516.
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On Wednesday morning, rushing to his office at the Rajya Sabha secretariat, Parliament of India, where he works as an assistant executive officer, Vinay says he has always dreamt of this day and was now short of words to express the feeling.
“Since childhood, I was fond of the police uniform. My uncle Venugopal, who is presently a special branch head constable in Siddipet, saw the spark in me. Initially, he pushed me towards my dream. My father let me pursue it and never lost faith in me,” Vinay told indianexpress.com over the phone from Delhi. Vinay says he would join the Indian Police Service.
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His father, Dudem Srinivas, was more than elated. “I am very proud of him. I hope he will serve the public without discriminating between the rich and poor, and go to any extent to help the poor and voiceless,” he said, when contacted over the phone. While Srinivas has seven more years in service, Vinay has opted for northern states as the preference of cadre because he wants to break out of his comfort zone and perform his duties without pressure from family or friends. “He is passionate about IPS. What I could not do at my level as a constable so far, I would want him to achieve,” added Srinivas, a 1995-batch constable.
The journey till clearing the civil services exams, Vinay says, has not been easy, especially with him being the older son in the family. He has been unemployed for six years till November 2019, when he took up his present job after a seventh attempt at cracking the exam.
“In the first two years, I have attended coaching classes but otherwise, I devoted myself completely to the preparations. I should thank my younger brother who worked at Delhi’s IGI Airport and supported me financially. He left for Canada last year to pursue his masters,” said Vinay, who made it to the personal interview in 2017 and 2018 but failed to clear it.
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Having seen the work life of two police constables from close quarters, Vinay is certain about what his focus should be when he joins the police service. “The police force is always short-staffed, the condition of lower-rung staff is deplorable. Their salaries are meager and don’t enjoy even basic facilities. They are toiling for the longest working hours and do not even get weekly-offs. In my capacity, I would want to focus on motivating the workforce,” he said.
On areas that he would like to focus on, he said he has chosen the states where women face a lot of discrimination. “Southern states are much more developed and I would want to replicate the best practices from everywhere. Women face a lot of issues, I want to work towards solving them,” he said.
