15% quota for women in J&K police jobs: significance, challenges and impact

Police training in Kashmir. (Image: AP)

To improve the representation of women in its police force, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government last month announced a 15% reservation for women in non-gazetted police posts.

Currently women constitute 3% of the total strength of J&K police.

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha approved the reservation for women on National Girl Child Day (January 24), saying that this is just the beginning, and the government is “determined and committed to increase it further in the future”.

With this, J&K has become the first state or union territory in India to reserve 15% jobs (non-gazetted) for women in the police force.

According to Union government figures, till January 2020, J&K had the lowest number of female police personnel, at nearly 2,677. In addition to this, J&K had the worst share of women in police at 3.31%.

The same data set revealed that women make up 8.98% of India's police force - it put the total number of women in police jobs in India at 1.85 lakh, including roughly 30,000 in the Central Armed Police Forces.

To be sure, women are under-represented in most law and order jobs across the world. A 2019 report by the US National Institute of Justice found that "women constitute less than 13% of total (law enforcement) officers and a much smaller proportion of leadership positions (in America)".

Apart from the benefits of inclusion that can be seen across sectors, female presence in police specifically becomes crucial when handling sensitive cases pertaining to women and children.

J&K Director General of Police Dilbag Singh last month directed the police to open special help desks for women in every district to ensure more fearless reporting of crimes against women.

In April last year the police had established 59 women help desks in police stations across Kashmir, to make them more friendly and accessible to women.

An SSP rank police officer currently posted in the Valley said that in almost all the police stations, the women police are posted to facilitate the women related issues. However, the numbers indicate that more female cops are needed.

Clad in khaki salwar kameez, hair tightly pinned back, policewomen in Kashmir can be hesitant to talk about their occupation in public.

The reason: they fear that in J&K's male-dominated society, people with "conservative mindsets" will talk “bad” about their profession which requires them to work with strangers, sometimes even till late hours.

For the past many years, recruitment drives have been held in various districts of J&K to bring more women into the police force and improve overall policing in Kashmir.

However, there are some challenges along the way. For example, militants and separatists in the Valley sometimes think of police personnel as ‘betrayers’.

In particular situations, the government has been deploying women police personnel for frisking women at checkpoints or during search operations.

The involvement of women police, government claims, can facilitate anti-militancy operations, frisking, security checks and other police tasks. “Adequate women police can bridge the gap between people and police in conflict torn places. The women police battalions can also solve the women centric issues more quickly,” said a senior woman police officer who did not want to be named.

To be sure, there are some encouraging examples, too. Tanushree, an IPS officer currently posted as SP east Srinagar, told Moneycontrol: “I have a great experience while working as a police officer in Srinagar. I have got great support and encouragement from my seniors as well as the public, ” said Tanushree who is among five working women IPS officers in J&K.

Jammu-based advocate Meenu Padha says lack of awareness among women is the reason for the low percentage of female police personnel in J&K. “The UT has a vast rural area due to which women, mostly from rural belts, do not remain aware about women police recruitment drives."

Padha, who is also president of the J&K National Child and Women Development Council, added: "Information about women-centric reservations, policies and job opportunities should be disseminated deeply so that more women would come forward and join the police force.”