Headlines
Maneka Gandhi asks home ministry to consider women's quota in police
New Delhi, March 29
The women and child
development ministry has requested the home ministry to take up with the
various state governments the issue of 33 percent reservation of posts
for women in police forces, official sources said on Sunday.
In a
letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Women and Child Development
Minister Maneka Gandhi was cited to have said: "I request you to take up
the issue of 33 percent reservation for women in police forces at your
level so that together we can address the problem of violence against
women."
Gandhi has pitched reservation for women in police
forces as one of the key steps which can stop violence against women.
The union cabinet has announced 33 percent reservation for women in the
police at lower levels in seven union territories of India, including
Delhi.
The initiative aims at buttressing women's power in the
police forces and to make them more gender-sensitive. Besides general
category, it will also cover Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Other Backward Classes.
Of a total number of 80,000 police personnel in Delhi police, women personnel constitute barely 8,000 at presen