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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Maharashtra has most women cops, but just 10% of force -Anahita Mukherji

Maharashtra has most women cops, but just 10% of force -Anahita Mukherji

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published Published on Aug 30, 2015   modified Modified on Aug 30, 2015
-The Times of India

MUMBAI:
In 2014, Maharashtra had more women in its police force than any other state or union territory in India. But its 17,957 policewomen formed a minuscule 10.48% of the state's total police force. Delhi ranks 12th in the list, at 7.15%, well below Chandigarh's top tally of 14.16%.

The Maharashtra numbers are particularly depressing because the state was the first to introduce a 30% reservation for women in the police force 44 years ago. Compared to the national average, 6%, Maharashtra's numbers are good and it is far ahead of neighbour, Gujarat, which has only 3.64% of women in its police force.

The data forms part of a study on policewomen in South Asia by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), released earlier this month. Among the top four are Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Himachal Pradesh. Assam is at the bottom of the list, preceded by Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and Nagaland.

"When analyzing quotas for women in the police force, it's important to remember that they can only be filled based on attrition and are dependent on retirements. Otherwise recruitments would be more than the posts sanctioned. For the time being, as a stop-gap arrangement in order to achieve its goal of 30% women in the police force, Maharashtra could recruit only women to fill vacant posts," says Devika Prasad of CHRI, who co-edited the report. Despite the reservations, Maharashtra is likely to take many more decades to achieve the 30% target, she estimates.

Prasad points out that the reserved positions are largely at the lowest level in the force's hierarchy and it takes women a long time to rise up the ranks. The officers, officers belonging to the Indian Police Service, are largely men. Prasad feels more women should be encouraged to join the police force at all levels. "Currently, they're concentrated in the lower ranks," she adds.

Mumbai-based Dolphy D'Souza, convener, Police Reforms Watch, believes there is no political will in Maharashtra to achieve the state's target for women in the police forces. Policewomen are expected to visit the homes of those who call on 103, the state helpline for women. "How is this physically possible when the number of women in the force is so limited?" he asks.

He believes that in the wake of growing crimes against women and children, there is a dire need for more women in the police force. He points to the recent case of a woman domestic help from Mumbai who alleged torture at the hands of policemen last week. "Numerous studies have shown that the presence of policewomen in large numbers exerts a general psychological pressure on policemen to behave better with citizens. This is a point that even the former DGP of Kerala, Jacob Punnoose, mentioned at the release of the CHRI report this week: He said custodial deaths in Kerala decreased with the increase of women in the police force" says D'Souza.



The Times of India, 30 August, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Maharashtra-has-most-women-cops-but-just-10-of-force/articleshow/48727793.cms


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