Gurugram: “The future will only be better if you become part of the solution. The easiest way to do this is with #1KmIn5Min.” This is Haryana Director General of Police O.P. Singh ‘s advice to people.
In what has become his trademark style of communication, Haryana DGP O.P. Singh, a 1992-batch IPS officer, has issued an unusual public challenge on social media platform X.
The challenge itself sounds deceptively simple: Run one kilometer in under five minutes and post the timing with the hashtag #OneKm, tagging the DGP.
But Singh says it is more than just a physical feat.
According to his post, ‘#1KmIn5Min Challenge’, maintaining this routine has kept him away from “all wrong habits” and keeps him strong. “You need to be mentally tough to run a kilometre in 5 minutes,” he explains, adding that it requires proper diet, good company, and a sustained effort until the finish.
#1KmIn5Min चैलेंज
ख़ुदी को कर बुलंद इतना कि हर तक़दीर से पहले,
ख़ुदा बंदे से ख़ुद पूछे बता तेरी रज़ा क्या है।
– अल्लामा इकबाल
मैं तीन साल था। मेरे ‘ये ऐसा क्यों है, वो ऐसा क्यों है’ से आजिज आकर मेरी माँ मुझे गाँव के स्कूल में ले गई। बोली दाखिला ले लो। हेडमास्टर गाँव की ही… pic.twitter.com/dSBI3V3qtA
— OP Singh, DGP, Haryana (@opsinghips) October 27, 2025
Singh juggles multiple roles. He is DGP of Haryana, head of the State Narcotics Control Bureau, Managing Director of the Haryana Police Housing Corporation, and director of the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madhuban. When people ask him how he manages it all, his answer is: “I keep my one-kilometer running time under five minutes.”
Married to the sister of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, O.P. Singh, who was Faridabad Commissioner at the time of the actor’s death, was among those who had fought for justice for Rajput.
An unconventional administrator, O.P. Singh frequently uses social media and open letters to communicate directly with both his force and the public.
Soon after taking over as Haryana DGP on 14 October, Singh wrote an open letter to “Dear Haryana Police”, urged the personnel to create an environment where “a lion and a goat can drink water at the same riverbank”.
Later, in another letter to SPs, DCPs, and CPs working in various districts of Haryana, Singh had advised them to follow a transformative approach to policing, urging officers to be courteous with people visiting police stations, to ensure they were offered a seat, tea and newspapers by polite staff.
In yet another letter, he suggested officers should use smaller tables and the same chairs they offer visitors.
Just days ago, Singh conducted a four-hour night patrol, posting real-time updates on X and instructing all Superintendents and Commissioners of Police to follow suit. His posts during the patrol were characteristically detailed, noting everything from emergency response vehicle alertness to the absence of traffic signage at diversion points.
Singh is also an author and a podcaster. Singh’s yet to be released book, Crowd Engineering: From Control to the New Science of Collective Behaviour, suggests that governments should view crowds as opportunities for civic engagement, and not as a disturbance to be dispersed.
As head of the Haryana State Narcotic Control Bureau (HSNCB), Singh launched a podcast series From Pills to Perils: Unmasking Haryana’s Hidden Drug Crisis with inside perspectives on the Haryana Police’s fight against the drug menace in the state.
He was also involved in creating a musical drama, Ram Gurukul Gaman in 2023 to engage youth on anti-drug messaging through cultural storytelling.
In his ‘#1KmIn5Min’ post, he also tried connect with GenX, GenZ, and GenAlpha—generations raised with mobile phones and the internet, which, he says, care about their country and the world and “most stay away from cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs”. They want to know what governments are doing to solve problems and build capacity, he said.
In one of his previous letters, Singh had called upon the SPs, DCPs and CPs to treat the youth—Gen Y, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha—as their own children.
“The future will only be better when you become part of the solution,” Singh declared, positioning the fitness challenge as a path to the mental fortitude needed for leadership.
No one can leave behind a person who is so determined,” he concluded, urging people to start immediately and tag him with their one-kilometer timing.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)