A parliamentary committee has asked the Union Home Ministry to take steps to encourage women to join the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), in addition to advocating a reservation for transgenders, in view of the low representation of women in the CAPFs.
The panel stated in its most recent report that a policy for women officers to be assigned easy postings and not be subjected to highly rigorous working circumstances may be investigated.
Percentage of Women in CAPF
According to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law, and Justice, which is chaired by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, women personnel in the CAPFs and Assam Rifles are represented at 3.76% as of September 30, 2022.
“The Committee believes that the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) should take all necessary steps to encourage women to join forces to the greatest extent possible.” “The difficult terrains and conditions in which they may have to work are a major constraint that prevents women from joining forces,” it noted in its 131st report on the “Review of Functioning of Government of India Recruitment Organisations.
Soft Postings for Women in CAPF
So, unless required in extreme circumstances like war or armed rebellion, and that too when there is an absolute shortage of males who can be deployed by the forces, a policy for giving women officers soft postings and not subjecting them to extremely strenuous and difficult working conditions may be explored, according to the report.
Reservations for Transgender in CAPF
“The Committee also suggests that transgender people be given some kind of reservation.” “Steps may be taken to recruit transgenders as well in the near future so that they can be well integrated into mainstream society,” it said.
“As of today, only 3.65% of vacancies for women have been filled,” the panel said of the “imperative issue” of a minimum ratio of women in the central forces. The BSF (Border Security Force) and the SSB (Sashastra Seema Bal) have just 14% to 15% female presence, while the CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) has 6.35% and the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) has 2.83%.
How Many Women are there in CAPF?
As of September 30, 2022, there were 34,278 women serving in the CAPFs and AR. There were 1,894 in the Assam Rifles, 7,470 in the BSF, 9,316 in the CISF, 9,427 in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 2,514 in the ITBP, and 3,657 in the SSB.
The panel also stated that it is critical to recruit as many young people as possible from border regions and suggested a specific effort for “Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, North Eastern states, and Kashmir” youth. The panel further stressed the importance of filling all mission-mode vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces and the Assam Rifles (AR).
On January 1, 2023, there were 83,127 openings in the CAPFs and AR. According to the report, there were 1,666 openings in AR, 19,987 in BSF, 19,475 in CISF, 29,283 in CRPF, 4,443 in ITBP, and 8,273 in SSB.
Conclusion
There be a robust mechanism to monitor how many people are retiring from forces, how many vacancies are created, and whether people have been appointed to the vacant posts. “Vacancies created should be filled on a regular basis, and backlogs should be avoided.” All departments should be firmly directed at all times to transmit details of vacancies to the Home Ministry in a timely manner and not take years and years to send the details of vacancies.
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