Women in Police in India

WOMEN IN POLICE IN INDIA

By
Dr. Tumpa Mukherjee
Assistant Professor in Sociology
Women's Christian College
Kolkata


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the
right to take part in the government of his/her country.1 The empowerment
and autonomy of women and the participation of women in socio-economic and
political realm is essential for the achievement of both transparent and
accountable government and sustainable development in all areas of life.
Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision-
making will provide a balance that will more meaningfully reflect the
composition of society and is needed in order to strengthen democracy and
promote its proper functioning. Without the active participation of women
and the incorporation of women's perspective at all levels of decision-
making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.
Article 7 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (adopted by the United Nations General
Assembly on 18th December 1979) states that the state parties shall take
all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the
political and public life of the country and shall ensure to women, on
equal terms with men, the right to participate in the formation of
government policy and in the implementation there of and to hold public
office and perform all public functions at all levels of government.2

At the fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995) it
was reiterated that women's empowerment and their full participation on the
basis of equality in all spheres of society including participation in
decision making process and access to power are fundamental for the
achievement of equality, development and peace.3 However in spite of all
conventions, world conference on issues related to women, women's
participation in decision making and implementing decisions has been
considerably low especially in the police service, which is an important
agency of the criminal justice system.

The police in the contemporary society is the most visible part of
bureaucracy symbolizing authority, stability and order. Sociologically
speaking police and policing is defined in terms of means applied, not in
terms of end. One single universal means deployed by the police to maintain
status quo in the society is the use of 'Coercive Force'. Thus the image of
police traditionally and historically has been that of a 'Crime Fighter'.
Thus by and large, policing is regarded as a male bastion. However women
have intruded this male bastion and have tried to carve out a niche for
themselves.

Women in Police in Ancient India
In India traces of evidence of women in police can be found in the ancient
period. In India the epic Ramayana written by Valmiki mentions Sita is
being guarded in Asok Vatika by women guards.4 According to some authors
the origin of women in police in India may be traced back to Kautilya's
Arthasastra written around 310 B.C.5 Kautilya in his Arthashastra mentioned
18 Great Officers of the State and called them Ashtadasa Tirthas.
Antharvaniska was the Fifth Officer with a salary of 24 Thousand Panas.
Antharvaniska was a lady officer who was the overseer of the harem. Her
function was of very intricate and responsible nature as she was to guard
against the intriguing women who were in close association with the king.
Women were specially recommended in the group of 'Wandering Spies' for
sensitive assignments.6 They fought against the invaders alongside with
men. During the Mughal period the role of women in the statecraft declined
in general.

Women in Police in British Period
There is no record, however, of the induction of women on a regular basis
into the police organizations until the twentieth century. There is
evidence to suggest that in the early part of the twentieth century the
British Government thought of recruiting women police.7 One of the items on
the list of issues which engaged the attention of the British Government
regarding Indian women in 1919 related to the proposal for the appointment
of women police officers to aid in the suppression of brothels.8 Though
much information is not available, it is believed that a few women police
in the form of Zenana Uraf guard, generally known as Aseels, were appointed
mainly to guard the female members of the Nizam's family. Afterwards they
were also given the functions of searching women suspects. The Aseels were
illiterate and were paid rupees twenty-five per month in those days.9 The
first ever woman police officer of India, Smt. Kamalamma entered police
service in 1933, at the age of eighteen, in the Travancore Royal Police.
Her main duty was assisting male officers to arrest women criminals. She
had fallen in love with a head constable but the rules at that time did not
allow women police to marry. They lived together in secret till she got
pregnant. She lost her job, but married the bold head constable and had six
children.10

The need for women police was felt for the first time during the labour
strike in Kanpur in the year 1938. In that strike, women labourers
participated very actively and lay down at the gates of the factory to
obstruct the entry. The male police personnel faced the delicate task of
lifting women workers physically and removing them. In our society women
symbolizes the 'izaat' of the community. The honour of the community is
supposed to be vested in women and the task of the maintenance of this
honour is bestowed upon her. A women's identity is presumed to be based on
her sexuality, hence the regulation of women's sexuality and retainment of
her sexual purity is the prime virtue and aim of the individual and as well
as the society. The chastity of a woman is revered. It is widely believed
that if a woman comes in contact with an outsider and an alien male person,
it will pollute her purity and render her impure. To face any eventuality
in future, where women come in contact with an outsider, police women were
appointed in Kanpur for the first time in India in 1939.11 Thus it can be
interpreted that though the 'entry' of women into the police symbolizes a
progressive trend, it simultaneously connotes the maintenance of the
traditional ideology in which a woman is considered as the repository of
the male honour and has to be protected from the male miscreants of varied
nature and forms. However, soon after the strike was over, women police
were disbanded. This trend of using women police personnel to protect the
'honour' of women still continues in contemporary times. The state of
Travancore also experimented with the appointment of one woman head
constable and twelve women special police constables during the pre-
independence era.12 There exists no evidence to suggest that women police
personnel were used by the British Police to suppress the nationalist
agitation where women activists participated. However, it is reported that
during the pre-independence period, a few women police were appointed in
the port cities of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras for frisking duty. Women
were inducted into the police force in Greater Mumbai in the year 1939.13
It was only after independence that women were appointed in police force on
a regular basis in different states in India.

Women in Police after Independence : Initial Years
Just after independence, women police were used in ports and airports as
elsewhere for frisking duty of women leaving for their native home (in
Pakistan). The Partition of the country into India and Pakistan led to
communal struggle and violence where women were raped, abducted, kidnapped
and sold into prostitution and lived under the constant threat of sexual
assault. On 6th December 1947, three and a half months after partition, the
two newly formed nations, India and Pakistan came to an agreement popularly
known as the Inter-Dominion treaty, on the question of recovering those
women who had been abducted and rehabilitating them in their native place.
To prevent women from being 'man-handled' by men, a drive for inducting
women into the police force was created. The Ministry of Relief and
Rehabilitation, Government of India, appointed women police for the
recovery and rehabilitation of abducted women and girls. The underlying
assumption behind such a move was to prevent further sexual assault of
refugee women in distress and to restore them their 'lost' honour in the
community. Thus, the primary responsibility of recovery of such women in
distress was that of the local police (staff of one assistant inspector
general, two deputy superintendents of police, fifteen inspectors, ten sub-
inspectors and six assistant sub-inspectors). To facilitate recovery
because the Ordinance in India expired on 31st December 1949, Gopalswami
Aiyangar moved in a Bill in Parliament on 15 December 1949 called the
Abducted Persons Recovery and Restoration Bill, for the consideration of
the house. The Bill clearly stated that the police officers, if required,
might take the assistance of female persons to recover and rehabilitate
abducted women.14 For personal search of purdah nashin women, who were
daily crossing the India-Pakistan border, 2 women A.S.I.s and 1 S.I. was
appointed in 1948. In Punjab, there was no regular women police before
partition. There was one lady sergeant in Government Railway Police posted
at the Lahore Railway Station. She also gained employment on compassionate
ground as her Anglo-Saxon Indian husband who was serving in the Crown
Representative Police had died in an accident.15 After partition this post
was retained and one lady inspector was appointed at the Delhi Railway
Station. Government also sanctioned the post of 7 women S.I.s, 7 women
A.S.I.s and 35 women constables against the already sanctioned strength of
male police in Punjab. So Delhi and Punjab were leading states to appoint
women in police on a regular basis after independence.16 The states of
Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh inducted
women in the police force before 1950. Between 1951-60 Karnataka, Bihar,
Rajasthan, Gujrat and Orissa recruited women.17 Moreover, after partition,
a number of grief-stricken refugee women would meet the Prime Minister
daily, expressing their grievances. So, for the Prime Minister's security
and the handling of the issue of refugee women, it was felt that there was
a need for women police in the general police force. As a result, one woman
sub-inspector and a few women constables were appointed in Delhi for
providing security to the Prime Minister when refugee women in distress
contacted him.18 Thus gender specific recruitment of women police was the
need of the hour. In 1950 the Hyderabad Police recruited and trained
sixteen women constables, who were called Haseens, and were posted in the
crime wing. Later that year, thirty women were taken in as police
constables and six as head constables directly.19After independence,
political agitations, bandhs, strikes and riots, became a regular feature
in different states of India and in such agitations participation of women
increased with each passing year. As a result the need for handling women
agitators created a drive for inducting women police. To prevent women from
being 'man handled' by men, a drive for inducting women police was created.
Thus the Indian State has always adopted a paternalistic role of protecting
its women, an attitude which prevails even after six decade of freedom.

Women in Police : 1960s – early 1980s
The number of police women was almost negligible in the country until the
1960s. In all states the police women played only a peripheral role and
were largely limited to performing protective and preventive role while
dealing with women offenders/victims and juveniles. It was only in the year
1972, Dr. Kiran Bedi became the first Indian woman to qualify for the elite
Indian Police Service. One or two women who had passed the exam in the past
had been manipulated to accept central services. Excuses such as stressful
training (such as horse riding and heavy exercises) in the police academy
located at Mount Abu were citied to obstruct women from joining the police
services.20

In India, women police personnel till the mid-1970s constituted about 0.22
per cent of the total police force in the country.21 However the scenario
changed after the late 1970s. During the late 1960s and 1970s the feminist
movement sought to uncover the influence of patriarchy in both the public
and the private spheres. Influenced by the second wave feminism, feminist
scholarship in India extensively dealt with and exposed the scale of sexual
oppression and violence against women. The women's movement during the
1970s and 1980s campaigned against various dimensions of violence against
women ranging from rape, sexual exploitation, dowry to domestic violence.
The agitation against rape in police custody was triggered off by the
Mathura rape case. Innumerable incidents of rape were reported in the print
media. The women's movement also campaigned against violence in the form
of murder, abetment of suicide inflicted on women by their husband and in-
laws relating to payment of dowry. Between 1978 and the mid-1980s murders,
sometimes disguised as suicides of middle and upper class newly married
women escalated first in Delhi and then all over India.22 A nationwide
clamour by feminists and political parties, led to the Criminal Law
Amendment in 1983. The Criminal Law Amendment in 1983 introduced sections
such as 304 (B) IPC and 498(A) IPC to deal with problems of dowry death and
torture committed upon women by husband and their family members. New legal
provisions such as sections 376 (A) IPC, 376 (B) IPC, 376 (C) IPC and 376
(D) IPC were introduced to deal with the crime of rape. Women's Cell and
All Women Police Stations (henceforth AWPS) were opened and
institutionalized in different parts of India and women police were
deployed in these units to facilitate investigation of crime committed
against women. The first ever AWPS was inaugurated by Smt. Indira Gandhi,
the then Prime Minister of India in 1973.23 In contemporary times, majority
of the Indian states have opened AWPS to deal with crime against women.
Tamil Nadu has the highest number of AWPS.

Even though there was no state policy defining the duties of women in the
police force, the National Police Commission (henceforth NPC) as well as
the various police commissions set up by the different states identified a
'restricted' sphere of work for women police. The National Police
Commission (appointed by the Government of India after the revocation of
the Emergency), in its fifth report, categorically outlined the limited
role women police personnel were to perform. Emphasizing the colonial past
and the initial years of the post-colonial era, where women police had
proved useful in performing the specialized tasks of dealing with women and
children and especially women victims of crime, the commission tried to
redefine the role and functions of women police in the country and
advocated a 'gendered' role for women police. The commission stated they
had already become a useful adjunct of the city police stations, Juvenile
Aid Police Units (JAPU) and other special units in different states. NPC
recommended women police can and should be entrusted with the investigation
of crimes relating to women and children and can also be employed on
intelligence work connected with such crimes. The National Police
Commission, in its fifth report, mentioned that young girls in danger of
exploitation get some measures of protection under the Children's Act as
well as under the Suppression of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.
Women Police have a very constructive role to play in re-establishing and
reforming delinquent girls. Women police can play a very useful role, both
preventive and investigative, in this sphere. In fact, employment of police
women in the investigation process in these cases as also in cases of
kidnapping, abduction, rape, etc. are useful as the victims will be more
willing to talk and furnish vital information essential for the
investigation and prosecution of such cases. The report further states that
women police have a greater potential to defuse and de-escalate many
situations and therefore greater use should be made of them than at
present. In a non-combative role requiring restraint, patience and
endurance they can be employed with advantage. They are specially needed in
areas where the police come in contact with women, so as to obviate
complaints of indignity and misbehaviour towards women. The presence of
women police in police stations helps in creating such confidence and trust
in the police. Women police can help in giving better attention to the
service aspects of police work.24 Thus NPC advocated a protective and
preventive role for women in police in India. Hence a 'gendered' role was
advocated for women police personnel during this period. They worked as
social workers performing an auxiliary function.

In a patriarchal society such as India gendered socialization takes place
in the family of orientation. Women are socialized to be mothers, wives and
workers under male authority. They are seldom viewed as autonomous being.
Women's social acculturation is not oriented towards confronting
competitive hierarchies, tough situation, quintessential values required in
policing, which is still a male bastion. The institution of police is
characterized by coercion, hierarchy, discipline and the notion of power
over people. The concept of power is given masculine characteristics such
as physical prowess and the use of force. But due to gendered socialization
initiated in the family, reinforced by secondary groups such as educational
institutions, media, the general trend followed by women is following the
passive approach. They are presumed to possess negotiating skills of
compassion, reconciliation and accommodation. Thus instead of deploying
them for challenging field operations, women police personal in the middle
managerial level received postings in Women's Cell/ All Women Police
Station / Immoral Traffic section of the Detective Department and Criminal
Investigation Department of state police. The postings of women police
personnel in such cells are regarded as an extension of their domestic
sphere at work.

Mainstreaming of Women in Police :mid 1980s to 2012
The data collected by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D)
states that the strength of women police in 2008 was 57, 466 in comparison
to 32,481 in 2003 i.e. there was an increase of 76.92 per cent.25 The
emergence and increase in the number of women in police may be attributed
to the spread of education, awareness as well as constitutional and legal
provisions enacted by the state. Yet even now the percentage of women in
police in India is abysmally low, barely 4-5%.26 Women prefer to avoid the
police service as the values they acquire in the family contradict the
mainstream police culture, which is essentially dominated by male values.
It exposes women to a male environment where they frequently have to
interact with criminals and anti-social elements of the society and the
threat of violence is ever present. As a result the general trend is
towards avoiding this profession.

However from mid 1980s onwards a trend towards mainstreaming of women in
police is being noticed. In 1985 mass agitation in Gujarat against the
government reservation policy took place evoking a lot of response from
women. These women agitators became so aggressive that they assaulted even
the security personnel. After receiving feedback of these unlawful
assemblies, the then Prime Minister himself wrote to the then Home Minister
that to tackle these unlawful assemblies, effectively women battalions in
the Central Reserve Police Force (C.R.P.F.) should be raised. The
eighty–eighth mahila battalion came into existence on 6th February 1988
with encouragement from the then Prime Minister. During the communal riots
in Meerut in May 1987, three companies of the mahila battalion stationed at
Delhi along with the commandant of the battalion had gone to Meerut. They
were deployed in various tense areas such as Balibazar, Sadarbazar,
Abdulpur and Begumphool. The mahila companies did a commendable job by
recovering arms, which were used during the riot.27 Women were deployed in
operational areas. Among the central police organization, Central Reserve
Police Force (henceforth CRPF) women were the first to be deployed in the
insurgency affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir in 1990 and continue to be
deployed. CRPF was also the first force to send an all women police unit to
the United Nations (henceforth U.N.) in Liberia as a part of the UN
mission.28 Women IPS officers have been posted in mainstream policing job
and they are performing very efficiently. Kumari Vandana Malik, IPS officer
of 1987 batch was posted as ASP (under training) at Lamshang Police
Station, Manipur. On 8th April 1989 while returning from such exercise she
was ambushed by the extremists. She died fighting bravely.29

Women officers in the state police forces have been heading police
stations, districts and women officers in the paramilitary forces have been
commanding male personnel with courage and distinction. Tamil Nadu was the
first state in India to have a woman police commando force under the
patronage of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha. The unit is
being used for the protection of VVIPs, escorting dangerous criminals and
all major operations where the expertise of the commandos are required.30
In strife-torn Kashmir, women at all levels have started taking part in
operations against terrorists. The Special Operation Group includes women
officers in anti-military operations and they have achieved spectacular
success in eliminating terrorists responsible for killing of policemen,
army personnel and civilians.31 Women in Border Security Force have been
guarding the Punjab side of the India-Pakistan border ever since their
induction in 2010. Though women troopers are being used for non-combat
duties such as frisking women and villagers farming across the fence in
Indian territory, they have been trained for patrolling and using
weapons.32 Women Police in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force are engaged
in patrolling the borders. They are a part of the team which escorts
civilians to Kailash Mansarovar yatra. In Tripura, women police are engaged
in controlling traffic. In Nagaland, women's battalion is in the process of
being formed. Their basic training has been completed and they are engaged
in commando training.33

In this phase, three salient features can be noticed. Firstly, the number
of women in police has increased. Secondly, they have been allotted
operational duties. Thirdly, mainstreaming of women in police is taking
place. Yet, gender discrimination and marginalization has been widely
prevalent within the police department. A senior woman IPS Officer in the
1970s after her training at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, was not
given posting by the then Director General of Police, Bihar. Only after his
retirement, the next Director General of Police, who happened to be her
batchmate's father gave her a posting.34 A Deputy Superintendent of Police
in the state of Jharkhand narrated that her district Superintendent of
Police (who was a male officer) denied her permission to accompany the male
team, who were assigned the duty of interrogating a hard core mafia running
a crime syndicate in the central part of India.35 In 2007 , Kiran Bedi, the
first woman IPS officer opted for voluntary retirement. She was anguished
at being superseded by her junior Y.S.Dadwal for the post of the
Commissioner of Police, New Delhi.36 Thus women are denied challenging
postings and work. They suffer 'inclusion' and 'exclusion' – they are
included and are a part of the police organization, yet they are
'excluded' and are marginalized within the police organization.

National Conference of Women in Police (2000-2014)
One of the most important features of this phase is National Conference of
Women in Police in which women cops of all ranks are represented at a
national level. Till now, five NCWP have been organized. The main aim of
these conferences is to establish bonding among women police personnel in
different ranks. The conferences held so far has highlighted the problems
of women in police service and has recommended suitable measures for
mainstreaming of women in police. The pivotal issues discussed in these
conferences have been the mainstreaming of women in police by increasing
their recruitment to 33 per cent. Open recruitment and a single common
cadre for both women and men have been recommended for all ranks so that
they receive equal promotional opportunities.

The first NCWP, held in New Delhi, recommended establishing a Forum for
Women in Police. It would comprise women in police of all ranks in each
state. Its function would be to expand and network, and share experiences
to enable them to make an effective professional contribution to the
service. Such forums help to reduce professional isolation and women can
gain access to knowledge related to their career advancement. It has been
reiterated, time and again, that women police personnel must have access to
all jobs and should receive field postings as station house officers and
sub-divisional police officers. Field postings in the initial stages of
career have been encouraged at all the conferences (held so far), for
effective mainstreaming of women in police. It has been further stated that
even though more women should be allotted mainstream duties of crime
prevention and investigation, yet the postings and transfer polices should
match the stages of career with the stages of life.37

In all the conferences held so far, one of the recommendations has been
that pregnant women be assigned light/off-field desk duty. One of the
recommendations have been framing of a formal policy guideline for light
non-field postings during pregnancy. The Superintendent of Police (SP) /
Commandant must be entitled to permit pregnant women to wear sari / salwar
kameez from the beginning of the third month of pregnancy.38 The
conferences recommended improvement of infrastructural facilities in the
workplace by providing each police station /police unit with toilets and
restrooms for women. Day care centres and crèches to be set up in the
police lines to support both men and women police with young children and
provision of official transport/vehicles for official work.39 Women police
personnel suffer from stress in both their personal and professional
spheres. The second conference recommended setting up of counselling
programs for the recruits and their families to enable better appreciation
of the demands of a police career. The counselling facilities should be
arranged during the pre-and post induction period as well as on personal
and professional matters.40 A resource centre is to be established by every
police organization to provide career information to help make informed
choices about future career and such information may be made available on
police intranet.41

The fifth NCWP was held at Thrissur, Kerala on 27th July 2012. One of the
major recommendations was at least four women may be posted in each police
station in the country and creation of women and child desk in each police
station to attend to women and child complainants. Open recruitment is to
be encouraged and all posts should be meant equally for men and women with
physical standards differentiated as per recruitment rules. Open structure
for promotion should be followed at every rank based on seniority cum merit
and not gender based criteria. Gender sensitization programmes should be
conducted for both men and women in police periodically and continuously.
The Bureau of Police Research and Development (henceforth BPR&D) may
identify training seminars and opportunities abroad relevant to women in
police and ensure adequate participation. The conference recommended to set
up a central committee in BPR&D, comprising of a serving police officer
(nodal officer) and senior retired women police officers to : (a) monitor
action taken on various recommendations of the NCWP; (b) formulate a
national policy on women in police, taking best practice examples from
other countries also, including flexible and lateral movement to
accommodate life cycle (c) conduct focused research on best practices
within the country and across the globe impacting the performance of women
in policing.42

The Delhi Gang Rape and its aftermath
On 16th December 2012, a paramedical student accompanied by her male
friend, was brutally gang-raped in a moving bus in Delhi. The incident
caused a huge public furore in India. The Government of India in a bid to
control this unprecedented anger among people appointed a committee headed
by late Justice J.S.Verma to review the existing laws on offence against
women and drafted a blueprint on safety and security of women. The Criminal
Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 was enacted. Acid attack, stalking etc. were
included within the purview of this new legal provision. For the crime of
rape stringent punishment has been laid down.

The Union Government has planned to set up a single, toll-free helpline
number across India to help women in distress. State governments have been
directed to establish women help desk in every police station. Every women
police desk is being provided with a dedicated police line. The states have
been asked to look into the possibility of creating a separate fleet of all
women PCR (Public Control Room) vehicles particularly in cities where crime
is on the rise.43

Kolkata Police is planning to set up a specialized anti-rape wing so that
the investigations of such cases are completed fast. There are plans to get
the statement recorded by women officials as it will be easier for a victim
to narrate her plight to a woman. The Code of Criminal Procedure
(Amendment) of Section 157 in 2010 allows the victim to get her statement
recorded at her home or at a place of her choice in the presence of her
parents or relatives and preferably by a woman police officer. The union
government has asked the state government to begin a fresh recruitment
drive to improve women: men ratio in police forces. The Deputy
Superintendent of Police should be made the nodal officer for crime against
women in every district, while one Additional Director–General should be
designated as the nodal officer in every state to look after complaints
regarding crime against women.44

Thus in recent time a 'gendered model of policing' is being followed where
women police are 'policing their own gender'. However they are no longer
working as social workers. Women police personnel are receiving specialized
training to deal with offences committed against women. They have received
training in investigation, forensic sciences from CDTS, NICFS, NPA. Gender
sensitization of police force has been made part of their training
curriculum. In the present scenario it can be concluded that in India a
hybridized practice is being followed in India. The 'gendered policing
model' (in form of separate women's unit such as Women's Cell, AWPS) is
being implemented for junior and middle level officers. Efforts to
integrate women with mainstream police work which includes operational
duties, law and order duties, traffic duties, patrolling and night duties
are being simultaneously practiced.

Women in police are an important and integral part of the police
organization in India. Yet, they are still not represented equally or
proportionally in all ranks and roles throughout the world, India being no
exception. Gender discrimination and marginalization is widely prevalent
within the police department. Women police personnel at the subordinate
ranks suffer from a lack of appreciation from their male counterparts.
There exists lack of promotional opportunities. Though incidents of sexual
harassment in police are sporadic in nature, bullying of women police
personnel by men colleagues in some form or other exists.

There is an urgent need to increase the strength of women in police in
India. There should be optimum utilization of the inherent potentialities
of women in police in India. For this a clear cut planning has to be made.
The need and requirement of women police in different sphere of work
require prior assessment. For this, the police organization and the home
secretariat of the respective states should work together to make a rough
estimation of the number of women police required by the year 2020. It
should also take into account (make a rough estimation) the number of women
who will not be available for performing field duties as well as non-field
duties due to maternity reasons. Thus along with the present need of women
police personnel, approximately the excess strength that may be required
should be calculated and then vacancies should be announced. It is
necessary to increase the numerical strength of women police in all ranks
especially at the decision making level (at the middle and senior
management level). During recruitment the aptitude, communication skills
and analytical skills of the candidate should be thoroughly tested in a
professional manner. There should be an open common cadre for recruitment.

A senior woman IPS officer while arriving at the venue of the fourth NCWP
met with an accident. Yet she arrived, fulfilled her commitment by
addressing the audience with a speech which inspire not only women police
but each and every member of our society. She narrated few incidents of her
professional life. As an officer of a district during her initial years she
had twenty four hours job. One day a lower middle class woman came to her
and narrated her problem. She arrived at the conclusion that the problem
has to be dealt with the revenue department and advised her to meet the
revenue officials. The poor woman replied that she was aware of it. She
went to the other department but nobody listened to her plight. It was only
she, a police officer who listened to her words.45

Women in police represent even now the humane, sensitive part of the police
force. In the twenty first century women police have an important role to
play. The society in general still has faith in commitment and transparency
of women police personnel and their work. It cannot be denied that they are
the change agents of the society. It is up to women police to live up to
the society's expectation and it is up to the society to utilize their full
potentialities for the betterment of society.








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National Resource Centre for Women.
5. Government of India, National Resource Centre for Women.
6. Compendium of Proceedings – 5th National Conference of Women in
Police, 'Making a Difference', Historical Perspective of Women Police
in Kerala, p.41.
7. Aruna Bhardwaj, Women in Uniform. Emergence of Women Police in Delhi,
Regency, New Delhi, 1999, p.47.
8. Index to the Proceedings of the Ministry of Home Affairs, National
Archives, New Delhi as cited in Tripti Desai, Women in India,
Munshiram Manohar, New Delhi, 1991, pp.49-50.
9. Shamim Aleem, Women Police and Social Change, Ashish Publishing
House, New Delhi, 1991, pp. 13-14.
10. R.Sreelekha, Compendium of Proceedings – 5th National Conference of
Women in Police, With Heads held high….p.07.
11. Bhardwaj, Women in Uniform, p.47
12. Amarjit Mahajan, Indian Police Women. A Sociological Study of a New
Role, Deep and Deep, New Delhi, 1982, p.39.
13. Ibid, p.17
14. Mushirul Hasan, Inventing Boundaries: Gender, Politics and Partition
of India, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 47-50.
15. Annie Abraham, 'Women in Police. A Global Perspective' in Compendium
of Proceedings, pp.71-72.
16. Ibid., p.72.
17. Ibid., p.72.
18. Bhardwaj, Women in Uniform, pp.47-50.
19. Tejdeep K.Menon, 'Breaking the Barriers' in Compendium of
Proceedings, p. 103.
20. 'An Officers Diary. First Women Police Office in India', Chennai
Online, Chennai.
www.chennaionline,com/columns/down/Memorylane/2006/diary 09 asp last
assessed 4 February 2010.
21. R.C.Arora, 'Role of BPR&D', Third National Conference for Women in
Police organized by the Haryana Police and BPR&D, Panchkula, Harayana,
7-9 March 2009.
22. Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies. An Introduction, Palgrave
Macmillan, New York, 1992, pp.253-258.
Nivedita Menon, Recovery Subversion : Feminist Politics Beyond
the Law, Permanent Block, Delhi, 2004, p.4.
Menon (ed), Gender and Politics in India, Oxford University
Press, Delhi, 1991, pp. 349-354.
23. R.Sreelekha, With Heads High, Compendium of Proceedings
24. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Report of the National
Police Commission, New Delhi 1977-81.
25. Tapan Chakraborty, 'Women Perception on Functioning of Police
Organization', Fourth National Conference of Women in Police hosted by
Orissa Police in collaboration with BPR&D, MHA, New Delhi, p.33.
26. Abraham, 'Women in Police – A Global Perspective', Compendium of
Proceedings, P.75
27. Ravinder Kumar, 'Women Police in India – A Study in Personnel
Management', Ph.D. Thesis, Osmania University, 1989.
28. Abraham, 'Women in Police – A Global Perspective', Compendium of
Proceedings, P.75
29. Information collected from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police
Academy, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
30. Renuka Mishra (ed.,) Compendium on Good Practices in Police, Gender
Issues, Part-IV, SVP National Police Academy, Hyderbaad, 2004, p.97.
31. Ministry of Home Affiars, Government of India, Good Practices, Jammu
& Kashmir, Deployment of Women in Anti-Terrorist duties, Second
National Conference for Women in the Police, New Delhi, 2005.
32. 'Women BSF guards put on duty in border areas', The Tribune,
Chandigarh, 12 September 2009,
www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090912/punjab.html. last accessed 26
February 2010.
33. Information collected after interacting with women officers who
participated in the Fourth National Conference of Women in Police,
organized by Orissa Police in collaboration with BPR&D, MHA, New
Delhi.
34. Information collected after interacting with women officers who
participated in the Fourth National Conference of Women in Police,
organized by Orissa Police in collaboration with BPR&D, MHA, New
Delhi.
35. Information collected after interacting with women officers who
participated in the Fourth National Conference of Women in Police,
organized by Orissa Police in collaboration with BPR&D, MHA, New
Delhi.
36. Vishwa Mohan, Super Cop Bedi calls it 2 yrs early, The Times of
India, New Delhi,
28th November 2007.
37. Recommendations for the First National Conference for Women in Police
held at New Delhi, BPR&D, MHA, Government of India (see BPR&D website
– www.bprd.nic.in)
38. Recommendation of the Third National Conference for Women in Police,
held at Panchkula, Haryana, BPRD, MHA, Government of India. (see BPRD
website – www.bprd.nic.in)
39. Ibid.
40. Recommendations of the Second National Conference for Women in
Police, held at Dehradun, Mussorie, BPR&D, MHA, Government of India.
41. Recommendations of the Fourth National Conference for Women in Police
held at Bhubaneswar, 2010, BPR&D, MHA, Government of India.
42. Recommendations of the Fifth National Conference for Women in Police
held at Thrissur, Kerala, 2012, BPR&D, MHA, Government of India.
43. 'Single, all – India helpline coming for women. Online police
complaints likely from April', The Hindu, 9 Jan. 2013.
44. The Hindu, 9th Jan. 2013.
45. The officer was a speaker at the 4th National Conference for Women
in Police held at Bhubaneshwar , 2010, BPR&D, MHA, Government of
India.

List of Abbreviations
ASI: Assistant Sub Inspector
ASP: Assistant Superintendent of Police
CDTS: Central Detective Training School
IPC: Indian Penal Code
IPS: Indian Police Service
NCWP: National Conference of Women in Police
NICFS: National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science
SI: Sub-Inspector
SVPNPA : Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
VVIPs: Very Very Important Persons

(Published in The 'Other' Universe. An Anthology of Women's Studies edited
by Aparna Bandyopadhyay and Krishna Dasgupta, Setu Prakashani and Women's
Studies Centre, Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata, 2015)