Women Form Merely 11.65% of Delhi Police’s Total Strength

Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy on Wednesday said in the Rajya Sabha that the total strength of women personnel in Delhi Police stands at a bare 9,341 out of the total 80,115. Reddy was responding to a question probing the total strength of women police officers in the Delhi Police when he revealed the numbers.

He added that in order to improve the participation of women in the police forces in all the Union Territories including Delhi, the government on March 20, 2015, made 33% reservation for women in direct recruitment in non-gazetted posts — from constable to sub-inspector mandatory.

The current strength of the Delhi Police as on June 30, 2019, is 80,115, out of which 9,341 are women, which is 11.65%. - Union Minister of State for Home G. Kishan Reddy

“Delhi Police had reported that in pursuance of the above approval, 2,624 women personnel joined the police force and 441 women personnel underwent basic training to date. The current strength of the Delhi Police as on June 30, 2019, is 80,115, out of which 9,341 are women, which is 11.65%,” said Mr. Reddy in his reply.

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He also responded to questions regarding all-women police stations in the capital as he said that Delhi already has Special Police Unit for Women and Children (SPUWAC) which focuses on cases/matters related to women and children and matrimonial disputes. Reddy informed the house that two police stations, predominantly operated by women, have been opened in the North and South Campuses of Delhi University for the security and safety of women.

Despite the fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued three advisories to state governments to increase women's representation to 33 percent of the total strength of police personnel in 2018, the numbers remain unchanged. The then Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, in August last year, had said the states have also been requested to create additional posts of women Constables/Sub-Inspectors by converting the vacant posts of male constables.

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“The aim is that each police station should have at least three women Sub-Inspectors and 10 women police constables. But some states have not implemented the advisory and that is why there are not enough women police personnel in police stations,” he had said in the Rajya Sabha.

In 2016, 24 policewomen accused an inspector-level officer in the Delhi police of sexual harassment at the workplace. The women officers alleged that they even informed the Delhi Commission for Women regarding the issue.

One of the main reasons for women’s continued lack of representation in the Delhi Police may be sexual harassment at the workplace in the law-enforcing agency. A year after the government greenlit 33% reservation for women in Uts including Delhi, in 2016, 24 policewomen accused an inspector-level officer in the Delhi police of sexual harassment at the workplace. The women officers alleged that they even informed the Delhi Commission for Women regarding the issue. They claimed that they had to struggle for four months after which a departmental inquiry was initiated. Their struggles included a woman officer being harassed just because she denied a man’s proposals and complained against him to the deputy commissioner of police (DCP).

After the DCP let the man off with just a warning, he started to openly harass the woman.

This and the other issues pertaining to misogynist mindset, lack of basic necessities like enough toilets for women, etc. are the roadblocks in the aim of attaining 33% of women police officers in the police force.

Picture Credit: swapsushias.blogspot.com

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