Sikkim police will soon have a 500-strong all-women special force and plans are also afoot to bring about parity in the gender-wise composition of the police personnel which at present are heavily skewed in favour of men.
Chief minister P. S. Tamang (Golay) on Monday said a special women’s police force was needed to tackle law and order problems since there were no women in the two elite units of Sikkim police — India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and Sikkim Armed Police (SAP).
“We have decided there should be a women’s police force of about 500 (personnel).... This (the process) will happen very soon, by February... there will be a strong special task force so that the recognition earned by the Sikkim police in the country and the world can be taken forward,” he said on the sidelines of a government event at Rhenock in Pakyong district.
The chief minister had first proposed the raising of two more battalions of the IRB, including an all-women squad, at the Chintan Shivir organised by the Union home ministry at Surajkund in Haryana in October last year. IRB is an elite unit sanctioned by the Centre to the state and union territories to deal with specific situations. The Sikkim police at present have three IRB battalions and a battalion of SAP.
Golay also said that his government wanted to bring about men-women parity by reserving 50 per cent of the jobs in the police for women. “The reservation pattern (in government jobs) till now is 30:70. 70 per cent male and 30 per cent female, but we are thinking even in job reservation, we will provide 50:50 (for men and women) in the police,” he said.
According to a source, the total number of male and female police personnel of all ranks in the Sikkim police at present is 4613 and 549, respectively.
The Sikkim police were raised on November 17, 1897, with a head constable and five constables when the Himalayan state was an independent kingdom.
Golay said recruiting more women to the police would also serve the purpose of providing job opportunities to them. “A lot of our women are educated and this will provide them with job opportunities. They, too, have the desire to work in the police force,” he added.
