Government okays quotas for women in paramilitary

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday took an important step to improve gender equality in the paramilitary by approving reservation of 33% women at the constable rank in two major central paramilitary forces CRPF and CISF and also setting a 15% quota in the border forces BSF, SSB and ITBP.

These forces together comprise of around nine lakh personnel of whom only around 20,000 are women as of now.

The 33% 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 Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) will come into effect immediately.

The decision was taken by Union home minister Rajnath Singh after a meeting on Tuesday, said sources.

"With a view to enhance representation of women in central armed police forces, home minister Rajnath Singh has approved 33% 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 that said there is an 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 anti-Naxal operations, has just about 6,300 women in its ranks.

The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs recently found that women personnel constitute only a little over 9% of the Delhi Police force and asked the home ministry to ensure 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.