AHMEDABAD: It is a significant change that women now take a job in the police out of choice and not out of compulsion. As the two studies of the Nambiar couple note, the responses of policewomen in 1995 and 2015 are a study in contrast when it comes to their ambitions and aspirations.
Dr Nambiar said that in 1995, 47% had joined the police department due to lower education. “This number fell to 17.6% in 2015. With the government policy of 33% reservation, aspirants for jobs in the police have increased. Against 5% graduates and 1% post-graduates in 1995, the 2015 study found 30.4% were graduates and 16.7% were post-graduates,” he said.
Another area in which improvement was recorded include respect from family, colleagues and society at large.
In April this year, a record 151 woman sub-inspectors joined the Gujarat police. Among the trainees was Mittal Patel, 26, a native of Aravalli district who had completed the year-long training with her newly-born daughter, Jaynee. Earlier, a woman had opted to appear for physical examination for Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) recruitment when she was five months pregnant. At a seminar held in 2014 by Gujarat Police Academy (GPA), Karai, issues discussed by women police officers and personnel included gender bias, discrimination in posting.Since then, about 800 women have joined the force as 33% quota was announced in June 2014.
Parth Shastri Archive 