SHIMLA: 'Women in khaki' are slowly and surely proving their mettle. They have also gone, where their male khaki counterparts have gone before, shattering almost every myth, notion and mindset that the male-dominated world had been perpetuating about them down the line.   

They are showing their mettle in the rough and tumble of India’s overt Male-dominated “Khaki world”, without losing their “feminine identify that makes them as women cops of substance”.

This assertion of women police officers, who have conquered Everest and reached formidable South Pole, has been more than conspicuous at the two days long National Conference of Women in Police (NCWP) that ended here in the capital city of Shimla on Monday.  

The conference is organized bi-annually by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), Ministry of Home Affairs in collaboration with various States since 2002.

The women police officers shared their experiences, debated about their service conditions, suggested measures to enhance work life balance to make them as “police leaders in society”.

The women cops are now visible on the roads, guiding traffic, they are at the scene of crime to probe crimes and they monitor sensitive law and order problems and handle VVIP duties with an elan.

If one goes by the experiences shared by women police officers at the conference, experts conclude that “women in khaki” are rubbing shoulders with the male counterpart, are making waves by their individual achievements.

They are doing this even as women in police represent, for example, in Himachal, just 2 to 3 percent of police force. At that, big question on women’s safety  still remain unanswered  in India.

The women police officers, who have made their mark,   bat for a level playing-field for them  in profession at a time when Indian police, as an institution, is facing a crisis of its own identity as an “investigator of crime and monitor of law and order”.  

The role of state policing in most states is increasingly being relegated or confined to looking after VIPs duties, ceremonies and functions”.

It is losing its role as an “investigator of crime and even monitor of law and order” to other agencies like CBI, CRFP, even army,  NIA etc mainly in more challenging tasks of crime investigation and in the insurgency-hit states in the country.

"This is happening because of growing trust deficit,  and rabid political interference and lack of professionalism - a trend that needs to be reversed to save police as an institution”, caution experts.

Even today, women police officers talked about the issues related to making the society safer for women by innovative measures to reduce crime against women.

Women Can Also Go Where Men Have gone

Ms. Manjari Jaruhar, IPS (Retd.) and Ms. Aparna Kumar, IPS IG U.P. Police kicked off the first session “on shattering the glass ceiling in khaki”.

Ms. Jaruhar, one of the first female IPS officers of the country shared her experience. She said it was difficult for her to prove her worth in police initially because of her gender.

She also expressed her satisfaction on how women in police today are increasingly taking up tasks which hitherto used to be an exclusive male domain.  

But  Jaruhar was quick to add that the female police officers should retain their “femininity and importance of taking care of family despite being in a demanding job like police service”. Then came Ms. Aparna Kumar. She has scaled seven peaks including the Mt. Everest. She is first IPS officer to reach the South Pole.

She encouraged the delegates to shatter self-limiting beliefs and not to be afraid of failures.

Sharing her experience of mountaineering Aparna Kumar said they should be optimistic, rebooting, retrying and reworking after they face any failure.

Himachal Takes a Lead in Women Safety

DGP of Himachal Pradesh Sanjay Kundu cited various initiatives taken by HP Police towards women safety and  encouraging women to join police while participating in the technical session of the conference.  

He told the delegates that these  steps included opening of register of sexual offenders, register of suicide cases including abetment to suicide, register of unidentified dead bodies and missing women and children, victim and witness support services, women help desks and the like.

Kundu  said HP Police have identified about 4000 sexual offenders including a few repeat offenders and put them under surveillance to reduce their chances of harming a female again.

The register of suicides has enabled mapping of suicide cases and “suicide prone areas”.

It has eventually helped in reducing suicide and abetment cases and their proper tracking, he said.

The register of missing women and children has also been instrumental in reducing crime against women in the state.

Kundu also informed that H.P. Police has requested UIDAI to allow them limited access to their data to help police identify the unidentified dead bodies.

DGP also informed that H.P. Police has been able to trace 83% women and 93% children after the opening of the register.

Kundu stressed upon the point that successful prosecution of cases is the basic requirement to ensure women safety.

Police in Himachal has started victim and witnesses support services and also ensured that Police officers and witness depose in the courts without fail for fast tracking the prosecution of such cases.

Kundu said despite being a small state of Himachal has managed to top most of the national indicators including implementation of CCTNS.

He briefly touched upon the ‘Veerangana on Wheels’ initiative that has considerably reduced response time to crime against women.

He hoped that H.P. police in future will be able to stop crime before happening with the help of predictive policing.

Building Resilience  

The third session of the day was scheduled on “building resilience strategies to deal with adversity”.

It was addressed by Tajender Luthra, IPS; Director, National Police Mission and Professor Naveen Kumar Singh of the Delhi university.

Luthra emphasized that resilience is not an inborn trait but it is built with intentional training just like a body builder builds his muscles.

“A person can easily judge his resilience by diagnosing her emotions”. “If one is angry, depressed, has a feeling of guilt, anxiety or embarrassment, then that person’s resilience is low and needs to be worked upon”.

He quoted RW Emerson, “what lies behind you and in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you”, hence self- awareness and self-regulation are key to building resilience.

He underscored that mental agility, strength of character and optimism are basic requirements to increase resilience and seeking help from others goes a long way in finding solutions to one’s problems.

Professor Naveen Kumar exhorted the delegates to follow the Bhagwat Gita and concentrate on their work and without worrying about the results, a mantra  that help build resilience.

Women Won Accolades

The interactive and experience sharing session with police officials who, as parents have helped their children won accolades in various fields was inspiring.

First to share was Inspector Taqdeer Singh Malik of Chandigarh police, who is the proud father of Miss. Monika Malik, who is presently an international hockey player.

She won a gold medal at the recently concluded commonwealth Games.

He asked all parents to let their children follow their own interests and not interfere with their career choices.

Malik said he used to give extra money to his daughter out of his meagre salary for eating fruits after hockey practice.  

ASI Irfan Mir of Gujrat Police is also a proud father, Tasneen Malik is the current no. 1 ranked junior badminton player in the world.

ASI Irfan said he himself is a badminton player, but he lacked opportunities to hone in his skills.  “I could not make it big. I trained my daughter with the help of a coach and she has become a champion badminton player”.

ASI Amrita Singh of Delhi Police is mother of the Judo silver medalist at Birmingham Commonwealth games, Tulika Mann. She narrated her heartrending story of raising a daughter as a single mother.

She gave her a mantra of making children self-dependent at an early age to inculcate a feeling of responsibility in them.

ASI Meenakshi Rathi of Delhi Police is the mother of Ishita Rathi who attained 8th rank in UPSC Civil Service exam 2022. She said she initially faced opposition from her in-laws in getting her daughter educated as they did not consider it important.

She also expressed gratitude towards senior police officers in allowing her flexible working hours to take care of her children. She also highlighted the importance of consistent hard work to attain success in life.

Amanjeet Kaur, an IPS officer of 2010 batch said that “every delegate in the conference has conquered her own Everest”. One of the delegates Garima Bhatnagar stressed the importance of keeping the goal post changing everyday for constant improvement.

Ms. Manjari Jaruhar, IPS (Retd.) and one of the resource persons of the conference replied that every goal post should be higher than the previous one.

Priti Chaudhary, Additional S.P., Rajasthan Police recounted how she faced hardships finding a suitable match for marriage as she was a Sub-Inspector in police and no one wanted to marry a police woman.

She later qualified the state civil service exam and joined the Rajasthan Police as DSP.

During the Dinner hosted by Chief Minister last evening, women police officers  dazzled the many participants when some of them appeared in the traditional Pahari Rejtas and ethnic Kinnari dohrus(saris) to give an earthy touch to the 'women in khaki'.

Guv Bats for Equal Opportunities for Women in Police

While presiding over the concluding ceremony  Conference, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar stressed the need to further increase the participation of women in the police force, providing them equal opportunities.

Women in police can play a vital role in women empowerment: CM

Addressing women police officers at the dinner hosted in their honour Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said  women empowerment was essential for bringing in change in the society and women in police could prove catalyst in this direction.

He said that it was indeed a matter of pride that the percentage of women in police and other armed forces has increased by 2-3 percent during the last eight years.

Chief Minister said Himachal Pradesh is 'Devbhoomi' and has a very low crime rate. Still the police force in the State is always on the move. 

Himachal Pradesh Police has not only ensured effective law and order in the State but it is also one of the most disciplined forces in the country, he said.

Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Chief Secretary R.D. Dhiman, Director General BPR &D Balaji Srivastava, DGP Kundu and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

With over 400 participants having in attendance, women police officers' conference has turned out to be a "memorable and a game changer event"  for all stakeholders in this erstwhile capital of the former Raj- Shimla.