All UTs directed to ensure 33% women in police force: Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Concerned over the low strength of women in the police, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju today said the Centre had been issuing advisories to the states and had directed the union territories to ensure the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in the police forces.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 19

Concerned over the low strength of women in the police, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju today said the Centre had been issuing advisories to the states and had directed the union territories to ensure the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in the police forces.

"It is a matter of concern that the numerical strength of women in the police is low. Although the police are a state subject, we have been regularly issuing advisories to the state governments to implement the 33 per cent reservation. Since the union territories come directly under the Home Ministry, we have made it very clear to them that 33 per cent reservation in the police must be implemented during our tenure. We have asked all UT administrations to be prepared with that," said the minister.

In 2009, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued an advisory to the states to increase the overall representation of women in police forces to 33 per cent.

Rijiju shared the developments at the launch of a report of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) called the Rough Roads to Equality (Women Police in South Asia 2015) today. The report is on the women police of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Maldives. CHRI is an Indian registered organisation, working on the systems of police and prisons and to mend them.

Maharashtra has had a 30 per cent reservation policy for women since 1971, the longest for any state, according to the report. Uttarakhand has had only a 15 percent reservation policy since 2014.

Chandigarh has the highest percentage of women police, 14.16 per cent, Uttarakhand has 8.4 per cent, Haryana 6.65 per cent and Jammu and Kashmir 3.12 per cent. India has the second highest representation of women police, 6.1 per cent after Maldives, which is at 7.4 per cent, according to the report.

Delhi's Special Commissioner of Police Vimla Mehra said the reservation for women wasn't being implemented as desired.