After earning honors at Harvard University during his one-year mid-career Masters in Public Administration

NAGPUR: Nearly a year after earning honors at Harvard University during his mid-career Masters in Public Administration, IPS officer Harrsh Poddar intends to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) in his policing career in Maharashtra.

A recipient of the Raymond and Josephine Vernon Award for Academic Excellence and the Litour Award for Leadership, Harrsh Poddar is perhaps the only Indian student to achieve this feat.

Harrsh Poddar learned various aspects of security from experts during his nearly one-year program at the Harvard Kennedy School. He has also attended a lecture by Graham Allison on US national security, A talk on Technology and Security by US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Juliet Kayem’s Insights on Homeland Security, AI from Bruce Schneier and a topic on China and security by William Alford.

Harrsh Poddar, a former Zonal DCP of Nagpur and also Group Commandant of the State Reserve Police Force in Amravati, wants to fully utilize his knowledge in policing with a future model related to crime management.

In the past too, Poddar was awarded the Director General of Police’s insignia for winning the first gold medal for Maharashtra Police in the All India Equestrian Competition for security forces.

Degree exposed me to the future of national security

Poddar was one of the many civil servants in India to have earned a degree from the National School of Law. He was selected for a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Poddar, a corporate lawyer turned IPS, has done his LLM in International Law from Oxford University as a Chevening Scholar.

Poddar was also selected as an IPS officer while serving in the world’s largest law firm Clifford Chance LLP.

“The introduction of technology into law enforcement was my main takeaway. I would like to work on it now” said Poddar, who served as SP in Malegaon and Beed, Maharashtra’s most sensitive districts.

“The degree exposed me to the future of national security and law enforcement. It gave me a sense of where the world is going in these areas,” Poddar, whose Covid management model has been appreciated and studied by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

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