Women will soon account for 33 per cent of constable-rank personnel in paramilitary CRPF and CISF and 15 per cent in the border guarding forces BSF, SSB and ITBP. These forces together comprise of around nine lakh personnel of whom only around 20,000 are women now.
The 33 per cent reservation in constable level posts in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and 14-15 per cent posts in border guarding forces of Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will start immediately.
“With a view to enhance representation of women in Central Armed Police Forces, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved 33 per cent posts at constable level for being filled up by women,” a Home Ministry statement said. This reservation would be horizontal, it said.
The move came following the recommendation of the Committee on Empowerment of Women in its sixth report which had suggested urgent need to provide due representation to women in paramilitary forces. The CRPF, considered to be world’s largest paramilitary force mostly deployed in law and order duties and the anti-Naxal operations, has just around 6,300 women in its rank.
The parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has recently found that women personnel constitute only a little over nine per cent of the Delhi Police force and asked the Home Ministry to ensure that their numbers are enhanced up to 33 per cent.
“The committee notes that as on date, the representation of women in Delhi Police is 9.27 per cent only. However, on March 20, 2015, Government of India has approved reservation of 33 per cent for women horizontally and in each category (SC, ST, OBC and others) in direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts from constable to sub- inspector in the police forces of all Union Territories, including Delhi Police,” the Committee observed.