Rajasthan Cabinet approves 33% reservation for women in police force | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Rajasthan Cabinet approves 33% reservation for women in police force

Posted 05 Sep 2024

2 min read

Earlier states like Bihar, Gujrat, Odisha, and Maharashtra have also provided for women quotas in the police force. 

  • In 2022, women made up about 12% of the state police. Chandigarh had the highest at 22%, while Jammu and Kashmir had the lowest at 3.3% (India Justice Report, 2022).

Need for more women in Police Force 

  • Legal Mandate: POCSO Act and major criminal laws now require every case of sexual assault to be recorded and investigated by a female police officer. 
    • The arrest of a woman and searching a woman must be done by a woman only.
  • Better reporting of Crime Against Women: Presence of women can foster trust among female victims, encouraging them to report crimes.
  • Improved police-community relations: This is because women's use of excessive force is less common.

Challenges in increasing women representation in Police

  • Stereotype: Women are seen to be unfit for long and unpredictable hours of the police system. 
  • Policy gap: Absence of reservation policy in many states (Police is a state subject under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution)
  • Implementation gap: E.g., Bihar provides 35% reservation for women, but actual number in police force is about 17.4%.

Initiatives to increase women representation in Police force

  • Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued   advisories to all the States/UTs to establish at least one all-women police station in each district.
  • MHA issued  advisories to all the States/UTs to increase representation of women police to 33% of the total strength. 
  • Creches and Day Care Centres have been provided by the CAPFs to women employees. 
  • All female candidates are exempted from payment of application fee in CAPFs exams.

 

  • Tags :
  • Women in Police Force
  • Crime Against Women
  • Reforms in Police Force
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