Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Thursday that the government was considering 33 per cent reservation for women in the paramilitary forces.
The announcement comes despite the forces struggling to fill even the five per cent quota decided during the UPA government’s tenure.
According to the data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), women comprise only 2.04 per cent of the paramilitary forces. Forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Assam Rifles together constitute a 9.8 lakh-strong force. Of these, only 19,575 are women.
The CRPF, which is the largest paramilitary force deployed in the country for law and order duties as well as in the Left-wing extremism-hit areas, has only 6,234 women in its fold.
Mr. Singh told Parliament, “Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar advocated social security for women and in this regard, the government has taken an important step, which is related to the Ministry of Home Affairs. We have decided that there should be 33 per cent reservation for women in all the police and paramilitary forces. We have already sent an advisory in this regard to all the States.”
Many hurdlesThis is not the first time that Mr.Singh has made such an announcement. Officials said it was the implementation which was the biggest hurdle. First, the State governments may or may not agree with the Centre over this and the Ministry of Home Affairs will have no control over it. Secondly, there are practical difficulties in employing women in paramilitary forces as there are few takers for jobs in difficult terrain and border areas, said an official.
“In most forces, they don’t get meatier assignments,” said the official.
During the UPA government’s tenure, the MHA had sent an advisory to all the paramilitary forces to achieve the target of 5 per cent women personnel.
