Farmer’s daughter is first Maharashtra policewoman to become ‘best cadet’
help her with the daily chores. The villagers used to taunt me by saying there was no point in educating myself. Today, they praise me for my determination,’ Meena told The Sunday Guardian. Her mother told reporters that she did not want her daughter to get educated. But she could not do anything faced with her daughter’s determination. “We are from an ordinary village where there is no tradition of education. I used to think that a girl child getting educated till Class X was more than enough,” Shashikala Tupe told local reporters. “But today, we feel so proud of her. She has put our names and the name of our village on the map of the world. I have been unwell for the last 10 years. She has taken care of me for the last five years. I have grown her up on bhaajibhaakri (vegetable and millet bread). What else can the poor give to their daughter? But look, she has grown up to be so big on it,” she said.
Meena’s father Bhivsen Tupe said Meena had made them very proud. “Till Class 10, she slogged on the fields. She ploughed the field, sowed seeds. She did all my work. I used to work as a daily wage labourer and provide money to her. We are illiterates. We cannot even sign. But this girl has made us famous due to her hard work. I trusted her. My heart is content now. For me, a son and a daughter are the same,” he said. Maharashtra Director General of Police, Praveen Dixit congratulated Meena Tupe and described her as a very promising officer. “This is the first time that a lady police sub- inspector has emerged as the best cadet. She appears to be a very promising officer, and we are looking forward to her great performance in her long career,” he told The Sunday Guardian.
On the increasing number of women entering the police force after the 33% reservation scheme, he said: “Though the government has a stipulated 33% quota, women should cross that mark,” he said.
The director of the Maharashtra Police Academy, Nawal Bajaj said he was happy to witness this milestone. “Earlier, when we started training women police officers, we used to have a different set-up for them. There used to be different classrooms, different grounds, different messes and different hostels for them. But now, except for the hostel, everything else is common for both men and women police officers,” he said, adding that these factors made Meena Tupe’s victory more spectacular. Meena Tupe, overwhelmed by the public response to her success, said she now aspired to become a Class I officer. “I have been called by the Beed SP for a meeting. I keep getting calls asking me to attend felicitation programmes. I go wherever people call me. Everyone among my relatives and family is very happy. Relatives have been thronging my house since they have heard the news,” she said.