Initiatives by Government:
- In 2009, 2013 and 2014, the Home Ministry had issued advisories to all state governments to increase representation of women in police to 33%.
- For the Union Territories, the Cabinet had in 2015 approved 33% reservation for women in non-gazetted posts from constable to sub-inspector.
Findings of the Model Policy on Women in Police in India, prepared by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI):
- Targets set: Apart from the UTs, Bihar has adopted 38% reservation while nine states have adopted 33%. Ten states have set smaller targets while nine have not set a target at all. However, Targets remain very much on paper.
- Overall women representation: Women comprise only 7.28% of India’s police force.
- Scenario in states/UTs: Among the states, Tamil Nadu (16%) has the highest representation of policewomen while Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa are the only others with over 10%. Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh police have 18% women while Delhi police have 8.64%.
- Positions held: Less than 1% of policewomen in India occupy senior ranks. Over 90% of them remain constables — the lowest possible rank — which is the position they enter the force and eventually retire from.
