FEMALE FORCE
THE BIHAR GOVERNMENT’S DECISION TO INCREASE WOMEN’S RESERVATION IN ALL GOVERNMENT JOBS TO 35 PER CENT HAS PROVEN TO BE A GAME-CHANGER FOR THE STATE POLICE FORCE
Increasing women’s reservation in government service has been a game-changer for the Bihar police
Tann se thok denge (I’ll knock you down with a single bullet),” said the woman in police uniform, training her INSAS rifle at the man in front of her, finger on the trigger. “Try running away with my weapon,” she dared him, “I will shoot you at point-blank range.” What she didn’t know, however, was that the man she was threatening to shoot was the director-general of Bihar police. This was in January 2020. Gupteshwar Pandey, then Bihar DGP, was taking a morning stroll in his civilian clothes near Bhagalpur’s Police Lines, when he came across two women constables, INSAS rifles in hand. He asked them if they knew how to shoot.
“We have just returned from firing 45 rounds at our shooting range,” they replied. Pandey then asked them what they would do if he were to wrestle their weapons away and make a run for it. At this, the women, without any hesitation, raised their guns and dared him to try. Pandey, realising the women meant business, quickly identified himself, and ordered them to stand down. The two constables were later given cash rewards of Rs 5,000 each for their boldness, presence of mind and bravery.
The incident, Bihar Police argue, confirms that their training programme has succeeded in erasing the selfdoubt female officers often suffer from in the male-dominated profession, especially in a state as patriarchal as Bihar can be. The road to recognition and success is still tougher for women, but the women police officers of Bihar are clearly up to the challenge.
THE RISING NUMBERS
According to a report published by the
Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), as on January 1, 2020, women accounted for 25.3 per cent of the police strength in Bihar—of the total 91,862 police personnel in the state, 23,245 are women—the highest among all states. This is double the national average of 10.3 per cent (up from 8.9 per cent in 2019) and a significant improvement from 2015, when women accounted for just 3.3 per cent of the force in Bihar. Now, one in every four cops in the state is a woman. The state has even surpassed Himachal Pradesh (19.15 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (18.5 per cent) in this regard.
Incidentally, at 35 per cent, the state also has the highest reservation for women in the police force. The reservation was increased to 35 per cent in 2016 after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made good on his pre-poll promise of providing 35 per cent reservation for women in government jobs. This goes further up to 38 per cent after adding the 3 per cent reservation
Bihar police say their training programme has succeeded in removing the self-doubt female officers often face in the male-dominated profession
given to women from backward castes.
Dr Nawal Kishore Choudhary, former head of the department of economics at Patna University, welcomes the change. “Not long ago, Bihar’s society believed that the police force was a male bastion and unsuitable for the female physique and temperament. Most women did not even apply for jobs in the police. However, the state government’s decision to increase women’s reservation has changed this mindset,” he says.
The Centre does issue advisories for increasing the percentage of women in the police forces to 33, but since police is a state subject, it is primarily the responsibility of state governments to correct the gender imbalance in the force. As things stand, the percentage of women in Bihar police should soon surpass the prescribed quota, as another 47,000 cops are to be recruited in the state. Bihar has one female cop for 2,487 women—a higher ratio than the national average, which is one per 3,026 women.
NO LONGER A MAN’S WORLD
Policing has traditionally been considered a job for men. And while the hidebound notion that women won’t be as competent in a combat situation in the field continues to be widely propagated by both men and women in the state, Bihar’s female cops are slowly breaking the glass ceiling.
While speaking to india today, current Bihar DGP, S.K. Singhal, proudly stated that the increased presence of women in the state’s police force has not only empowered the women but also made the constabulary more efficient and effective. “Apart from in-house tasks like maintaining registers and filing FIRs, the women police personnel are involved in law-and-order duties. We also have one all-women police station in each of the state’s 38 districts which makes it easier for women in general to file a complaint or share their problems freely with the police. The women police officers often add a new perspective to investigations,” he says. “If women are poorly represented, it makes it difficult to deal with crimes against women and women criminals. With women police personnel visible at all levels, from upholding law and order to guarding arsenals in Bihar, we have the advantage.”
GETTING AHEAD
Meena Kumari, a 34-year-old constable, heads an all-women team assigned to guard the police arsenal at the Bihar Military Police (BMP) campus in Patna. The BMP is a law enforcement agency in the state used for tougher combat situations. Meena is posted at BMP-5, located near Patna airport. The two military police battalions, BMP-5 and BMP-14, are both headed by women IPS officers, Harpreet Kaur and Kim. The two women are looked up to as role models by women constables.
Almost half the women constables, who joined the force with intermediate qualifications, have continued their studies while in service to complete their graduation to acquire the eligibility to compete for senior-grade jobs in the state police. Currently, the number of women in officer-grade posts is low— just 32 among 1,220 police inspectors, 920 of 10,039 sub-inspectors and 185 of 6,675 assistant sub inspectors are women. “But these are early days,” says a woman constable, who wished to not be named, posted at BMP-14. “You will see more and more women manning senior posts in Bihar police.” Of course there are still many hurdles to cross. “Patriarchy is entrenched deep within society and Bihar is no different,” says one woman sub-inspector. “A woman constable is often not taken seriously by offenders, like traffic violators. But thanks to our training and attitude, we know how to respond. Our women cops are experts in charging batons and even hurling the choicest of abuses if the situation calls for it. Our seniors had faced bigger gender
biases prior to 2015, but they paved the way for us to rise. We are demolishing gender biases with our sheer numerical strength.” However, she believes there is scope for improvement in some areas. “For instance, when women police personnel are deputed to other locations, the one thing they lack is a proper bathing space in police stations. We do have toilets, but, unlike men, women constables cannot take baths in the open. This is something the government should look into.”
IMPACT ON SOCIETY
The impact of Nitish’s reservation policy can be seen across Bihar. There are multiple case studies that demonstrate how the creation of opportunities in the police for women has empowered women in rural Bihar.
For instance, for Khushbu Kumari, 27, of Bhadaur village in Nawada, joining the force was the best thing to have happened to her. An aspiring handball player, Khushbu wanted to pursue a career in sports, but was forced to give up on her dream by the men in her family who insisted that she be married off. Khushbu, however, joined Bihar police in 2016, which gave her the confidence to resist her family’s pressure. Now she is not only an advocate for joining the police force, inspiring other girls to follow in her footsteps, she pursued her dreams of being a handball player simultaneously and is now the captain of the Bihar Women Handball Team. Neha Bharti, 24, currently posted at BMP-14, qualified as a police constable in 2018, three years after getting married to her husband who runs a small stationery shop. Neha, with her take-home salary of a little over Rs 33,000 per month, is the primary bread-earner in her family of four.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
In a state with a per capita income of Rs 43,000 (2019-20), where female literacy, according to the 2011 census, is just above 51 per cent and where 1,127 dowry deaths were reported in 2019, as per a National Crime Records Bureau report, these financially empowered young women are the markers of change in society. “Every day I see a huge number of girls running and practising at the college ground to qualify for the physical test that is part of the police examination,” says Raghunandan Sharma, professor of sociology at Patna University. “The opportunities in the police force have helped young girls look beyond the traditional unspoken rules, which mandated social standards, norms and expectations about what a good woman/ mother/ wife should or should not do in order to be likable, worthy and desirable. Now the girls have gone beyond. Their families have started backing them too because it not only ensures social and economic empowerment of the girls but also creates financial stability for the family,” he says. Indeed, almost all women constables interviewed by india today said they are supporting their parents financially. “Most of these women are from poor backgrounds with their fathers earning less than Rs 10,000 a month. So, a large number of these women constables spend half their salaries in sponsoring the education and marriages of their siblings,” says a female officer in BMP-5. There have also been numerous examples of one woman inspiring other women in her family to give the police force a go. For instance, constable Meena Kumari of BMP-5, and her sister Madhu Kumari, posted at Sasaram, are both with the state police. Dr Sharma also underlines an important social change in Bihar’s otherwise patriarchal society. “As the girls have the benefit of reservation, they stand a better chance to qualify for the police force, which further explains why they have started feeling like the “beta” (son) of their family and getting all the respect and adulation otherwise reserved only for the male child. The old notion that “Beta hi khayal rakhega (only the son will take care of parents)” has gradually been replaced by “Beti sabse acchhi (daughters are best)”.
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