Over 11,000 women will soon be recruited in the central security forces for combat duties like border guarding and law and order assignments. The government has taken this decision to enhance the representation of women in these forces. It has already set in motion its plan to hire 8,533 women constables in paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF, CISF and ITBP after it recently announced one of its biggest recruitment drives to hire over 62,000 young men and women as constables this year. Also, sanctions have been granted by the Union Home Ministry for raising 21 new companies or a total of 2,772 women personnel by 2017, in the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) which guards open Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan.
“The recruitments are being done to take the representation of women in central forces to at least 5 per cent of the total strength in the coming days. At present, women constitute about 2.15 per cent of the total strength of these forces,” a senior officer said. Under the mega drive to hire a young workforce for these forces, a special sanction has also been accorded to the CRPF to raise two exclusive ‘Mahila’ (women) battalions within its establishment to bolster the strength of the existing three such units. The Home Ministry, the officer said, has made its policy clear that women personnel should be at least 5 per cent of the total strength of these forces and this could only be done after conducting fresh hirings.
