The tendency to assign policewomen not so significant duties has been questioned in a latest government report that also cautions against their abysmally low representation at 6.44 per cent in the police forces across the country.

The remarks in the latest Data on Police Organisation prepared by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) came as it finds fault with the attitude towards women in the force that was amplified in a survey conducted recently.

As on January 1, 2015, the report launched recently said India has only 1.10 lakh women personnel and it had added just 5,547 women in a force that has a sanctioned strength of 22.63 lakh. At present, there are 17.21 lakh personnel.

The report noted that availability of adequate women in the police is possibility to reduce the vulnerability of women becoming victims of crime. “If there is an overall shortage of women police personnel then how can country meet the new challenges in form of increased crimes against women, emphasizing the need to bring women police to front line duties. It is essential that women are visible at the cutting edge level of public interface,” the report questioned.

“There is a tendency to engage women police only in situations like security checks and other specialized duties relating to women, but unless they are assigned frontline duties in the police stations, there would not be an impact on the community as a whole,” it added.

Among the states, Tamil Nadu has the highest representation of women at 12.63 per cent (14,224 out of 1.12 lakh) followed by Himachal Pradesh 11.22 per cent (1,546 out of 13,784) and Maharashtra 10.96 per cent (19,690 out of 1.79 lakh).

Less in number
Uttar Pradesh has just 7,220 women police personnel in a 1.65 lakh-strong force, which is just 4.37 per cent.

The number of women officers in senior positions is also very low. While there are 446 officers in the rank of Director General, Special Director General and Additional Director General, only 25 are women. Of the 501 Inspectors General, only 46 are women while only 23 out of 387 Deputy Inspectors General are from the fairer sex.