What percentage of CAPF personnel are women, and why is the number so low?

How galore women serve successful these forces, and however person their numbers changed implicit the years? Besides the CAPFs, what efforts person been made to summation the fig of women unit successful the constabulary forces of states and Union Territories?

First, what is the existent spot of women successful the CAPFs?

Women marque up 4.4% of the 9.48 lakh-strong CAPFs, including the Assam Rifles. The CISF, which guards nationalist spaces specified arsenic airports, the Delhi Metro, and important authorities buildings specified arsenic the Parliament Complex, has the highest practice of women – 7.02% of the full unit spot of astir 1.51 lakh – Rai told Lok Sabha.

The practice of women successful the different forces is little – 4.43% successful SSB, 4.41% successful BSF, 4.05% successful ITBP, 4.01% successful the Assam Rifles, and 3.38% successful the CRPF, according to figures presented by the curate successful the House.

“It is simply a changeless endeavour of the Ministry to summation the fig of women successful CAPFs. It is noteworthy that the fig of women successful CAPFs has gone up from 15,499 successful 2014 to 42,190 successful 2024. 835 women unit person been recruited successful CAPF and Assam Rifles successful 2024, portion 5,469 are successful the process of recruitment,” helium said.

Another 4,138 women are apt to beryllium recruited successful the CAPFs and Assam Rifles successful 2025, Rai added.

How person the efforts to enlistee women successful CAPFs progressed truthful far?

In 2016, the cardinal authorities decided to reserve a 3rd of each constable-level positions successful the CRPF and CISF for women, and 14-15% successful the borderline guarding forces — the BSF, SSB, and ITBP.

However, recruitment failed to support gait with the policy, and successful 2022, the Parliamentary Committee connected Home Affairs expressed disappointment implicit the “abysmally low” fig of women CAPF personnel. Women constituted lone 3.68% of the spot of the forces astatine the time.

“The committee is disappointed to enactment that women represent lone 3.68% of the full spot of CAPFs. Despite efforts of the Home Ministry to promote the recruitment of women successful the CAPFs and Assam Rifles, the spot of women is abysmally low,” the study of the Committee led by the BJP’s Rajya Sabha subordinate Brij Lal said.

So what did the Committee urge the authorities should do?

The Committee asked the Home Ministry to instrumentality factual steps to summation the practice of women successful CAPFs. Phase-wise recruitment drives for women should beryllium enactment connected accelerated track, peculiarly successful the CISF and CRPF, and steps should beryllium taken to make a conducive situation successful the borderline outposts truthful that the women are motivated to articulation information forces, it said.

The report, which was tabled successful Rajya Sabha successful 2022, besides recommended that the Ministry should strive to place the factors preventing women from joining the forces, and to travel up with applicable solutions to promote their participation.

What happened aft that?

Last year, different parliamentary committee, the Standing Committee connected Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, suggested “soft postings” for women successful bid to incentivise them to articulation the CAPFs.

“A large constraint that prevents women from joining forces is the hard terrains and conditions successful which they mightiness person to work. So, a argumentation whitethorn beryllium explored for women officers being fixed brushed postings and not subjecting them to highly strenuous and hard moving conditions, unless required successful utmost circumstances similar war, equipped rebellion etc and that excessively erstwhile determination is implicit shortage of males who tin beryllium deployed by the forces,” the Committee, which submitted its study to Rajya Sabha connected August 3, 2023, said.

The Committee, headed by the precocious BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, said the practice of women unit successful the CAPFs and Assam Rifles was 3.76% arsenic connected September 30, 2022.

In February 2024, Rai told Lok Sabha successful a written reply that the authorities had taken respective steps to promote women to articulation the CAPFs and Assam Rifles, including exertion interest waivers and relaxations successful the Physical Standard Test (PST) and Physical Efficiency Test(PET) successful examination to antheral candidates.

Also, Rai said, cardinal authorities facilities specified arsenic Maternity Leave and Child Care Leave were besides applicable to CAPFs, creches and Day Care Centres had been provided by the CAPFs to women employees, and committees had been constituted astatine each levels to cheque intersexual harassment and to expeditiously woody with the complaints of women personnel.

Women unit were fixed adjacent accidental successful their vocation progression arsenic their antheral counterparts, the authorities said.