Women constables on duty at the Dakbungalow More in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, July 13: The Bihar police headquarters has finally taken cognisance of problems faced by woman police officers assigned on field duty. It has drawn up a detailed proposal enlisting their problems and suggested certain relief measures for them.

“We have prepared a proposal based on the research study conducted by former Gujarat director-general of police S. Banerjee on induction of women in the central police forces,” a senior police officer said, adding though the study was conducted for centre forces, it is also relevant for the state police force.

The police officer said the copies of the proposal have been circulated among woman IPS officials of the state seeking their opinion before sending it to the policymakers. “We will submit the proposal to the government after getting response and feedback from the officers concerned,” the police officer revealed.

According to the proposal, the uniform of woman police officials during pre-natal and post-natal periods would be different. Wearing the tight uniform and belts, which are prescribed for all police officials, is the biggest problem that woman police officials faced on duty.

To sort out the problem of wearing the tight uniform during pre-natal and post-natal periods, the proposal has mentioned to follow the recommendations of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The BPR&D had recommended alternative uniform for woman police officers, who were in advanced stage of pregnancy.

The proposal has felt the need of more leaves for woman police personnel than their male counterparts. “This fact ought to be taken into cognisance in the wake of the natural role of women as caretakers of their families,” the proposal said.

It has recommended light or desk duty for woman personnel after completion of 15 years of service. “A number of women personnel develop psycho-medical problems owing to use of birth control measures to avoid pregnancy during initial period of their service,” the proposal said.

The proposal has also stressed the need of induction of well-trained and suitable female instructors for imparting outdoor training to woman police officials. “The doctors’ panel comprising gynaecologists, physicians and psychologists, has made some recommendations with respect to duties allotted to them during pre-natal and post-natal periods,” it said.

The women police officials often complained of prejudices of their male counterparts. To deal with male prejudices against the capabilities of women personnel, “gender sensitisation courses” in the curricula of the trainees at induction and other in-service training courses should be organised, the proposal said.

The proposal further stressed the need of introducing springboard training programmes for women trainees designed specifically for women to enable them to develop their full potential. “The training will help women who are in the supervisory as well as non-managerial positions to move up to the managerial cadres,” it said.

“To improve working efficiency and performance of women personnel in the police forces, it is recommended to give them mental, psychological, emotional, social and health support, especially in the case of lower cadres who are employed in active duties,” the proposal said.

Last but not least the proposal has recommended for lowering the voluntary retirement age of women police personnel from 20 years to 15 years. According to the doctors’ panel, women progressively lose their physical efficiency after the age of 30, the proposal said.

With the Bihar government giving 50 per cent reservations to women in the panchayats, the report prepared by deputy inspector-general, (human rights) Ravindran Sankaran, has stressed the need of recruitment of more women in the state police force. “For the state police, it will be difficult to deal with woman protesters in the days to come if adequate number of women personnel were not appointed,” the DIG’s report said.