Deployment of more women at border posts opposed
The Central Armed Police Forces have resisted a Home Ministry directive to increase the percentage of women at the border posts from 2% to 15%, pointing out their reservation to deploy women at the high-altitude posts and other hard areas.
They have also approached the ministry to review its order to reserve 33% posts of the constables in the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force and 15% in the borderguarding forces like Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP), Border Security Force (BSF) and Shashtra Seema Bal (SSB). They have pleaded that higher percentage of women will create many logistic problems that the ministry has overlooked.
Pointing out that 64% of the border outposts are still not connected by road, the ITBP has said fixing a percentage of the border guarding forces for women in general duty cadre would pose a score of problems of their deployment, accommodation and other facilities in the far-flung isolated border areas.
In an official communication submitted to the home ministry, the ITBP has pleaded that the percentage of women in its employment may be reduced from 15% to 5% at the most. ITBP, which guards India's mountainous borders with China up to the altitude of 21,000 feet, has written that: "ITBP apprehends that even if provisions are made to recruit women, it may be very difficult for us to find willing women for the GD (general duty) cadre."
The BSF, which has 62 battalions deployed in extremely harsh areas, including the Line of Control (LoC) as also in the anti-Naxal operations, has stated that it is not desirable to induct women for these battalions, though services of women in 111 battalions deployed in normal areas can prove useful.
The total strength of women personnel in the central armed police forces at the last count was 25,799. The CISF has the highest 8,303 women personnel, followed by BSF 5,138, SSB 2,040 and ITBP 1,956.