Push for more women, this time in the police

Source: This post is created based on the article ‘Push for more women, this time in the police’ published in The Hindu on 30^th Sep, 2023.

Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 2 – Social Issues –

News: Recently, One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment Bill, 2023 has been passed. The bill reserves one-third of total seats in various legislative bodies for women for 15 years. The article proposes a similar reservation in the police force.

Read for more details of this section – Women Reservation Bill-Explained Pointwise

What is the present status of women in the police force?

Most states have policies to fill 30% or 33% of vacant police posts with women through horizontal reservation.

However, the actual representation of women in the State police force is around 10.47% as of January 1, 2021.  As per Minister of State of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) statement in the Rajya Sabha, the representation of women in the police force (as of January 1, 2022) remained at 11.7% of the total State police force.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has urged states to increase this representation to 33%.

Facts that support the reservation for women in the police force

First, with changes in the criminal laws, certain procedures, like recording statements or conducting searches, mandate the involvement of a woman police officer.

Second, National Crime Records Bureau data indicates that about 10% of total crimes were against women in 2021.

Third, The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has further increased the demand for women in the police force.

Fourth, Women have proven their capability in various police duties.

What steps have been taken by the government to promote gender equality in police force?

The MHA has been incentivizing states to implement police reforms, including merging women police with regular police and establishing recruitment boards.

women police have been merged with the regular police.

The MHA also provided a special grant to encourage States to establish a ‘women desk’ in every police station.

Most States have a policy to fill up 30% or 33% of the vacant posts (of direct recruitment) with women in their police forces through horizontal reservation.

What are the challenges in ensuring gender equality in police force?

Police’ being a ‘State’ subject in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, the implementation of ‘police reforms’ remains primarily a concern of the States.

The actual percentage of women in the police force is not as per the state policy. For example, Bihar provides for 35% reservation for women and 3% for backward caste women, but the actual number of women in the force is about 17.4%. Whereas, in Himachal, there no such reservation policy, but 20% vacancies of constables are filled up by women.

Many states have not been enthusiastic in implementation of the reforms pushed by central government. The establishment of the Police Recruitment Board is one such reform.

To truly encourage more women to join the police force, states need to provide a conducive environment and essential infrastructure.