P. Vijayan

P. Vijayan IPS
പി. വിജയ൯ ഐ.പി.എസ്.
P. Vijayan IPS, speaking at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, USA,[1] 2013
Inspector General of Police
Personal details
Born	Puthiyottil Vijayan (1968-02-04) 4 February 1968 Puthoormadam near Kozhikode District, North Kerala, India[2]
Nationality	Indian
Spouse(s)	Dr. Beena Vijayan IAS
Children	Kumari Vishnu Priya & Master Vignesh
Parents	P.Velayudhan & P.Leela
Residence	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Education	Master's Degrees in Economics, Bachelor's Degree in Education Qualified UGC Lectureship & JRF Exams Perusing research for Doctoral Degree in Economics
Alma mater	The Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College, Calicut[3] Government Arts & Science College, Calicut[4] University of Calicut, Calicut[5] University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram[6]
Occupation	Inspector General of Police, Kochi Range
Awards	CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (Popular Choice), 2014[7] President 's Police Medal for Meritorious Service, 2015[8] Chief Minister’s awards for Innovation in Public Policy, 2013[9] Fellowship of Global Tobacco Control Programme at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Institute for Public Health in Washington DC, USA, 2013[10]
Website	pvijayanips.com

P Vijayan IPS, (born 4 February 1968), is an Indian Police Service officer and a socially oriented Officer in uniform. He is a 1999 batch official of the Indian Police Service, currently serves as Inspector General of Police ^[11] Kochi Range. He holds an MA in Economics from Calicut University. He is a voracious reader and motivational orator who always believe in multitasking. An accomplished and highly effective public speaker, Vijayan is very much in demand for his ability to deliver motivational speeches on a wide range of topics. He strongly believes and practise that a true leader is who develops more leaders. He is the founder and Chief Architect of the nationally-acclaimed Student Police Cadet Project,^[12] a youth development initiative. He also encompasses prominent positions in several community-based initiatives including;

1. State Nodal Officer - Student Police Cadet Project (SPC)
2. State Nodal Officer - Project : Our Responsibility to Children^[13] (ORC)
3. State Coordinator - Clean Campus & Safe Campus Project^[14]
4. Chief Coordinator - Project Punyam Poonkavanam,^[15] Sabarimala
5. Team Leader - Special Investigation Support Team (SIST)^[16]
6. Patron - The Nanma Foundation^[17]
7. Chairman - Sastra Pratibha Matsaram 2015^[18]

In recognition of his social commitment and appreciable service, Vijayan was honoured with CNN-IBN Indian of the Year (Popular Choice) - 2014,^[19] an honour that embodies Greatness.

He also had held simultaneous charge as Deputy Inspector General of Police (Battalions) overseeing all Police Battalions in Kerala, as well as official-in-charge of the Kerala Railway Police while holding the position of DIG (Intelligence). Immediately prior to this, Vijayan headed the police organization of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the state, as its Police Commissioner.^[20][21] Commencing his policing career as Assistant Police Superintendent (Kanhangad) in Kasaragod District in October 2001, Vijayan has been District Police Chief of several districts including Kasaragod, Thiruvananthapuram Rural, Malappuram, Ernakulam Rural and holds the unique distinction of being the first to have served as Commissioner of Police in all four Commissionerates in the state, viz. Thiruvananthapuram,^[22] Kozhikode, Thrissur & Kochi. In acknowledgement of his efforts to promote a drug-free community, in particular among youth, P. Vijayan IPS was awarded a fellowship in 2013 to attend the Global Tobacco Control Leadership Programme at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Washington DC, USA.^[23]

Early life & Education

Puthiyottil Vijayan was born on 4 February 1968 in a not-so-affluent family in a remote hamlet called Puthoormadam near Kozhikode in North Kerala. He is the 3rd child of P. Velayudhan and Leela. He has four brothers & two sisters. Vijayan studied in High School at Pantheerankavu High School, Kozhikode. When he failed to clear the SSLC exam on his first attempt, he had to take up employment in construction sites at an early age. It was only after a gap of two years that he managed to pass this exam. Determined to earn a college degree, he set up a small scale manufacturing unit soap unit and took classes for schoolchildren.^[24] Vijayan then went on to do an MA and MPhil in Economics from Calicut University, and finally passed the prestigious Civil Services examination in 1999 to join the IPS.^[25]

Personal life

Vijayan is married to Dr Beena IAS, a medical doctor by training and a civil servant (Kerala cadre 1999)^[26] by profession, and the couple have two school-going children. In 2008, Vijayan And Beena were recognised as the Model Official Couple by Thrissur-based South Indian Bank Ltd.^[27]

Career

A Kerala cadre police official, Vijayan led the teams that investigated the Kalamassery Bus Burning case,^[28] the Sabarimala Thanthri case,^[29] the Chelembra Bank Robbery case,^[30] and the email threat case against the Prime Minister of India.^[31]

Vijayan's community initiatives include a Police Call Centre at Kozhikode,^[32][33] and Pink Autos programme in Thiruvananthapuram for safe travel by women,.^[34][35] He also initiated an innovative "Punyam Poonkavanam" ^[36] project to promote waste cleanup at the Sabarimala pilgrimage site^[37][38][39] and a Traffic Safety & Learning Centre at Thrissur,^[40] and School Protection Groups.^[41]

In August 2005, Vijayan, as Commissioner of Police, Kochi City, constituted a team of "Shadow Police" as the first of its kind in the State. Subsequently, such units have been formed and are functional in Kozhikode, Thrissur and Trivandrum.^[42] He also initiated the State Temple anti-Theft Squad in Kerala.^[43]

In acknowledgement of his efforts to promote a drug-free community, Vijayan was awarded a fellowship in 2013 to attend the Global Tobacco Control Leadership Programme at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Institute for Public Health in Washington DC, USA.^[44] Subsequently, Vijayan has been designated as state coordinator to lead the statewide school-level anti-drug abuse campaign of Government of Kerala, viz. "Safe Campus Clean Campus"^[45]

Youth initiatives

Student Police Cadets with P.Vijayan IPS

Early in his professional career,Vijayan realised that it was necessary for police to connect with youth in a healthy and positive manner. This would not only create a good image of the police in young minds, but also channel the adolescent fascination with authority in a positive and productive manner.^[46]

Thus, Vijayan launched a Student Police Cadet Project in August 2010 in 127 schools across Kerala, with 11176 students - both boys and girls - enrolled as Cadets (G.O (P) No 121/2010/Home dtd 29-05-2010). The project has now been expanded to a statewide network of 433 schools with a combined strength of nearly 35,000 SPCs, being trained by over 850 existing teachers and nearly 1500 officers of Kerala Police.^[47][48] This programme is planned for expansion throughout India.^[49][50]

As Kozhikode City Police Commissioner, Vijayan initiated the Our Responsibility to Children (ORC) project to address the increasing socially deviant behaviour among adolescents.^[51] The success of the project prompted Government of Kerala to take it up in all districts, under the aegis of the Kerala Social Security Mission.^[52]

Vijayan is also founder of the Police Youth Football Academy, a football programme for youth at Thrissur.^[53] He then founded a similar academy at Thiruvananthapuram.^[54][55]

References