Taking gender equality in the defence forces one notch higher, the Border Security Force (BSF) guarding the country’s frontiers along Pakistan and Bangladesh, is to increase its women combatant force to around 8,000 in a phased manner.
Even while the Army is reluctant to allow women combatants, the BSF is more than receptive to the idea of giving women a level playing field in the task of keeping country’s borders safe. “Currently there are 751 women in BSF fatigue. Our aim is to increase it to five per cent of the force. They will be inducted into the combatant force carrying arms and doing active patrol duty,” the Director-General of BSF, U K Bansal, told Deccan Herald.
The idea is to stagger women’s recruitment so as to enable them speedy promotions and scale higher positions, Bansal said. The DGP said “staggered” recruitment would give women recruits at the lowest rung the opportunity to climb the career ladder to discharge higher responsibility and enjoy better incentives. This year around 400 “mahila Jawans” would be elevated as combatants.
Bansal said BSF is building up its “strong women patrolling force” which is one of its kind in the world. “Women constables trained in combat and equipped with firearms are deployed at border gates and in fenced areas,” he said, adding that they are specially deployed for frisking farm labour on the common Bangladesh and Pakistan borders.
Around 300 women constables in the force are holding technical jobs related to signalling and wireless or employed in ministerial departments. Doors are also open to women to get recruitment in the IPS and other examinations. “It is our effort to promote women in our various operations. We have accommodated 70 widows of BSF personnel and provided them with jobs in the force,” the BSF chief said and noted that while deploying women constables, basic amenities (like washroom etc) were ensured at the border checkpoints.