NEW DELHI:
Meghalaya has a meagre 5.77 per cent representation of women in the state police force against the central government’s directive of 33 per cent in all states and UTs.
The revelation came in a Parliamentary Standing Committee report which said that of the 14,760 police personnel in Meghalaya, only 851 are women.
Although none of the states and UTs have 33 per cent presence of women in their respective police forces, Bihar has 25.30 per cent followed by Himachal Pradesh with 19.15 per cent, Chandigarh 18.78 per cent and Ladakh 18.47 per cent among others.
Other Northeastern states have also reported low representation of women. Assam has 7.59 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh 8.66 per cent, Manipur 9.10 per cent, Mizoram 7.18 per cent, Nagaland 9.74 percent, Tripura 5.13 per cent and Sikkim has 8.07 per cent.
The parliamentary committee on Home affairs has said that police without adequate representation of women cannot be treated as truly modernised or reformed.
The Committee, however, observed that the role of women in the police has been steadily increasing. The induction of women and their representation in the police force has not only helped women at large feel empowered but also helped to address crime against them effectively.
“Further, the police are required to deal with varied situations of public order involving women, which also necessitates their representation in police forces,” the Committee headed by Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma, said in its report.
Against the actual strength of 20,91,488 of total police force (Civil+ District Armed Reserve (DAR)+ Spl. Armed+IRB), that of women police in the country is 2,15,504, which is just 10.30 per cent.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has an abysmally low percentage of just 3.31 per cent. The Committee, however, appreciated Bihar for having significantly better performance than other states with 25.30 per cent.
In fact, the Home ministry on five different occasions had issued advisories to the state governments to increase the representation of women police to 33 per cent of the total strength.
“All the State Governments have been requested to create additional posts of women constables/sub-inspectors by converting the vacant posts of male constables. The aim is that each police station should have at least three women sub-inspectors and 10 women police constables so that a women’s help desk is manned round the clock,” the Home ministry said.