Chandigarh, Punjab Police will soon appoint one female station house officer (SHO) in at least one police station in every district. At present, there are women SHOs in nine police stations apart from six in women police stations.
However, there are a total of 374 SHOs in Punjab.
“This is one of the various initiatives we are going to take up for women empowerment within the police organization,” Punjab DGP Suresh Arora told TOI. He said there are also 21 additional women SHOs in the state.
Also, five women officers are in-charge of women cell and one has been posted as in-charge of police post.
“As of now, we have 7.5% of women SHOs in our state. Whereas the national average is approximately 7%,” said Arora. Police stations where women SHOs have already been appointed include Karibpur in Kapurthala district, Garhshankar in Hoshiarpur, Kheri Naudh Singh in Fatehgarh Sahib, Morinda (City) in Ropar, Kurali in Mohali, Badhni Kalan in Moga, Sangrur Sadar and two SHOs in Amirtsar. Women SHOs are heading the women police stations in Ludhiana rural, Mohali, Bathinda, Muktsar, Ferozepur and Patiala.
Also, women police officers are rarely appointed munshis in police stations and as investigating officers, except in marital discord or rape cases. On this, the DGP revealed that the police department is focusing on how to involve women police personnel in investigation of cases and is preparing special training modules. The state police head further added that with a view to offer a level playing field to women cops, his department also wanted to post women police personnel for community policing as well as traffic duties.
“At the same time, we are focusing on providing a safe environment for women police personnel and to instill confidence in them so that they do not hesitate to report any kind of sexual harassment incident,” said Arora.
With a focus on women empowerment, in the recent past, the Punjab police have conducted women police conferences on empowerment and self-development at various places, including the one at Ludhiana on January 19.
Statistics reveal that total strength of the Punjab police force is around 80, 400 out of which there are around 5,200 women cops.
Source Times Of India
