90% of women in police force serving in junior ranks: Report

New Delhi: India's police force has less than 1,000 women in senior positions like Director-Generals and Superintendents of Police, with 90 per cent of all women in policing serving in the constabulary, according to a new report.

The India Justice Report (IJR) 2025, initiated by Tata Trusts and supported by several civil society organisations and data partners, tracked the performance of states across four areas — Police, Judiciary, Prisons and Legal Aid.

According to the report, despite growing awareness about the need for gender diversity in law enforcement, not a single state or Union Territory has met its target for women's representation in the police force.

The IJR 2025, released on Tuesday, ranked Karnataka as the top-performing state among the 18 large and mid-sized states in terms of justice delivery, maintaining its position from 2022.

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu followed Karnataka, with the five southern states outperforming others due to better diversity, infrastructure and staffing across sectors.

The report also underscored gender disparities within the police hierarchy.

Out of 2.4 lakh women in police, only 960 are in the Indian Police Service (IPS) ranks, while 24,322 hold non-IPS officer positions such as Deputy Superintendent, Inspector, or Sub-Inspector. The authorised strength of the Indian Police Service (IPS) is 5,047 officers.

A staggering 2.17 lakh women serve in the constabulary. Madhya Pradesh tops the chart for the highest number of women Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs), with 133.

Around 78 per cent of police stations now have Women Help Desks, 86 per cent of prisons are equipped with video conferencing facilities, and the per capita expenditure on legal aid has nearly doubled between 2019 and 2023, reaching Rs 6.46. The share of women in the district judiciary has also increased to 38 per cent in the same period.

 However, the share of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) in the district judiciary remains low at 5 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.

 In the police force, SCs account for 17 per cent and STs 12 per cent, falling short of proportional representation.

 Paralegal volunteers (PLVs), considered a crucial link for access to legal aid, have declined by 38 per cent over five years, with only 3 PLVs per lakh population now available. There are only 25 psychologists/psychiatrists available across prisons nationwide, the report said.

The IJR also flags serious infrastructural and staffing deficiencies across the justice system. India has just 15 judges per million people, far below the Law Commission's 1987 recommendation of 50.

 High Courts are operating with 33 per cent vacancies and district courts with 21 per cent, leading to massive workloads — up to 15,000 cases per judge in High Courts like Allahabad and Madhya Pradesh. District court judges, on average, are handling 2,200 cases each.

 Prison overcrowding is another area of concern, with a national average occupancy rate of 131 per cent.

 Uttar Pradesh has some of the worst instances — one in every three jails there holds over 250 per cent of its capacity, the report said.

Furthermore, the availability of medical personnel in jails remains inadequate, with the prisoner-doctor ratio standing at 775:1 against the recommended 300:1.

 In many large states, including Haryana, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, this ratio exceeds 1,000:1.

 Among the small states, Sikkim retained the top rank, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha showed the most improvement among large and mid-sized states between 2022 and 2025.

 Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand also improved, surpassing Gujarat and Haryana on the improvement index.

The report also evaluated the functioning of 25 State Human Rights Commissions and featured essays on access to justice for persons with disabilities and mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method.

With India's prison population projected to hit 6.8 lakh by 2030, the IJR warned that unless systemic reforms are prioritised, the justice system will continue to disproportionately burden the vulnerable and marginalised.

The report has sourced information from official portals such as the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry of Law and Justice, National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) and Prison Statistics India, among others.