Kuhu Garg, a 2024-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was recently awarded the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’ for the Best Outdoor Probationer at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA) in Hyderabad. The assessment covers physical training, horse riding, unarmed combat, yoga, tactics, mock drills and sports.
Garg, India's former No. 1 international badminton player, belongs to the academy's 78th Regular Recruit (RR) batch. During the passing-out parade, she distinguished herself by securing the ‘Best Drill’ award, which recognised her exceptional precision and coordination during training.
Legacy of academics and public service
Hailing from Kurana village in Haryana's Panipat district, Garg has a formidable blend of academic excellence and athletic discipline.
She is the daughter of Ashok Kumar, a former IPS officer who previously served as the Director General of Police (DGP) for Uttarakhand and is currently the Vice-Chancellor of the Sports University of Haryana (SUOH), according to a Tribune report.
On the academic front, she completed her undergraduate studies in economics, graduating from the prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in New Delhi in 2018.
Illustrious international sporting career
Before choosing civil services, Garg had an impressive career representing India on the global badminton circuit from 2013 to 2020. She was coached by Dr D.K. Sen and later by Padma Bhushan awardee Pullela Gopichand at the Pullela Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad.
Garg attained a career-high world ranking of number 34 in mixed doubles and number 73 in women's doubles. Over the course of her athletic career, she amassed a total of 56 national and 19 international medals, and notably reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 2018.
Overcoming injury to clear the UPSC
Her athletic journey faced an unexpected halt during the Covid-19 pandemic when a severe ACL knee injury forced her into a prolonged period of bed rest. Utilising this challenging recovery period, Garg pivoted her focus entirely toward the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations.
“After my class 12 examinations, I was not really preparing for academics the way I had to here. I was out of touch. I would never even read the newspaper; I would just skip to the sports page,” she told the Times of India (TOI).
Dedicating herself to eight to ten hours of daily study, her unwavering commitment paid off when she cleared the highly competitive UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2023 on her first attempt, securing an All India Rank of 178.
Notably, she is recognised as the first active Team India player to clear the exam in the open category while still actively competing. She was subsequently allocated the Gujarat cadre and officially joined the service on 26 August 2024.
Winning the ‘Sword of Honour’
According to her father, the ‘Sword of Honour’ is awarded following a rigorous evaluation of an officer's overall performance across approximately 15 to 20 different outdoor training activities assessed throughout the training period.
These rigorous evaluations encompass a wide variety of operational and field skills crucial for law enforcement:
- The assessed activities include precision firing and horse riding.
- Probationers are also rigorously tested in commando training, swimming, and drill exercises.
- The final assessment incorporates general sports performance and various other physical and skill-based criteria.
Reflecting on how her background in professional sports fueled her success at the police academy, Garg said, “Once an athlete, always an athlete.”
“The discipline, resilience, strategising and the need to always get better and push yourself — all of that stays with you,” she told TOI.
Following the conclusion of her academy training and field attachments, Garg is set to officially assume her full-time policing duties in Gujarat.
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