Ministry of Home Affairs Pushes for 33% Women Representation in Police Forces Through New Advisories

“Police” is a State subject falling in List-II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. It is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations to recruit more women police personnel including improvement of gender balance. The Centre also issues advisories to the States/UTs for increasing number of women in the police forces. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued advisories dated 22.04.2013, 21.05.2014, 12.05.2015, 21.06.2019, 22.06.2021, 13.04.2022, 27.04.2023 and 05.12.2023 to all the State Governments/UT Administrations to increase the representation of women police to 33% of the total strength. All the State Governments/UTs Administrations have been requested to create additional posts of women Constables/Sub-Inspectors by converting the vacant posts of Constables/Sub-Inspectors. The aim is that each police station should have at least 3 women Sub-Inspectors and 10 women police Constables, so that a women help desk is manned round the clock.

States have also been advised to strengthen welfare measures for women police personnel and ensure their safety and a conducive work environment such as provision of housing, medical and rest room facilities for women police personnel in Police Stations to attract women to join the Police Force.

Further, under the scheme of “Assistance to States & UTs for Modernization of Police” [erstwhile scheme of Modernisation of State Police Forces(MPF)], central assistance is also provided to all the State Governments for construction of separate toilet facilities for male and female, crèche etc.

“Police” being a State subject, the details of recruitment of women police personnel in the States/UTs is not maintained centrally. As per data on Police Organisations compiled by Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D), the details of actual strength of women police personnel in the police forces of each State/UT during the last three years is at Annexure.

 

States/UTs wise details of actual strength of women police personnel in the police forces (Civil + District Armed Reserve + Armed + IRB) during the last three years

Sl.

No.

States/UTs As on 01.01.2021 As on 01.01.2022 As on 01.01.2023
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
1. Andhra Pradesh 3812 19299 18913
2. Arunachal Pradesh 1038 1290 1345
3. Assam 5070 4191 4894
4. Bihar 14447 19790 24295
5. Chhattisgarh 4225 4576 4903
6. Goa 861 835 842
7. Gujarat 14718 14681 14775
8. Haryana 4713 4829 5506
9. Himachal Pradesh 2361 2404 2593
10. Jharkhand 4200 3880 4611
11. Karnataka 7750 8240 9081
12. Kerala 4013 4142 4472
13. Madhya Pradesh 5927 7656 7452
14. Maharashtra 28802 30432 32172
15. Manipur 2636 1962 1957
16. Meghalaya 849 826 818
17. Mizoram 557 540 602
18. Nagaland 2953 2599 2588
19. Odisha 5847 5909 6108
20. Punjab 7005 7117 8167
21. Rajasthan 8834 9996 10361
22. Sikkim 462 531 470
23. Tamil Nadu 23006 22547 25334
24. Telangana 4742 5349 5351
25. Tripura 1165 1164 1306
26. Uttar Pradesh 29435 33425 33319
27. Uttarakhand 2586 2602 2609
28. West Bengal 9627 9558 9603
29. Andaman and Nicobar Islands 539 548 543
30. Chandigarh 1319 1275 1327
31. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 104 104 104
32. Delhi 10138 10228 11930
33. Jammu and Kashmir 2691 2598 4370
34. Ladakh 308 695 777
35. Lakshadweep 28 27 26
36. Puducherry 258 258 268
  All India 2,17,026 2,46,103 2,63,762

Source:BPR&D