The UP government is gearing up to hire more than 4,000 women home guards to supervise marketplaces, girls’ schools and colleges, as well as recreation centres.
While the police and para-military forces do have a 20 per cent women’s quota, till now women were not being hired as home guards. If the proposal sent to include the same parameters for home guards is approved by the chief minister, it will be a significant achievement.
Presence of women in uniform will not only ensure better safety and security of girls and women, it will also bring down the number of eve teasing incidents reported around girls’ educational institutions, malls, parks and marketplaces. Women police and home guards will give young girls and women the confidence and fearlessness required at their workplaces and to step outside their homes.
The first batch of 100 women recruited to the Corps of Military Police will also begin by next month. Although their official posting will only take place by 2021, ten units have been identified where they can be posted so that necessary provisions can be made for them. These women will mainly be entrusted with the task of controlling women and frisking them. Over the next 17 years, 1700 women personnel are expected to be hired. Assam Rifles and Karnataka Police already have a significant number of women in the force.
