The Tripura government will increase the number of women police personnel to at least 20 per cent of the total strength, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said on Thursday.
"Currently, 13 per cent of the total police constables and 10 per cent of the total police force are women. Our government's target is to raise the percentage to at least 20 in the next few years," Sarkar said at the passing out parade of 554 newly-recruited police constables.
He said: "Many years ago, there were only two per cent women in the police force. The number of women police personnel and officers is being increased to deal with the rising crime against women and other related issues."
The Tripura government has already set up seven all-women police stations, and four more all-women police stations would be set up soon.
"Besides recruiting additional women police personnel and setting up of all-women police stations, the state government has taken a series of steps to check crime against women," said Sarkar, who also holds the Home portfolio.
He said: "Tripura State Rifles (TSR) has earned huge appreciation from many state governments and the Central government as the force has been deployed in a large number of states during elections, sports meets and other important events".
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"Another 500 troopers of TSR would be recruited soon to increase the strength of this counter-insurgency force," the Chief Minister announced.
The elite TSR battalions, trained for counter-insurgency operations, were raised in March 1984 to deal with terrorism. Seventy-five per cent of its personnel are from Tripura while the remaining are from across the country.
Currently TSR has 12 battalions, out of which nine battalions are India Reserve (IR) battalions.
"The IR battalions can be posted anywhere in the country as and when the Union Home Ministry ask the concerned state government," a TSR official said, adding that certain battalions of specially-trained forces of many states are categorised as IR battalions.
The 554 police constables, whose passing out parade took place on Thursday, were given nine-month training at the KTD Singh Police Training Academy in Narsingarh, 15 kilometre from Agartala, and one-month anti-insurgency training at the Jungle Warfare Training Centre at Kachuchara in northern Tripura.
KTD Singh Police Training Academy Principal Sankar Debnath said women constables were also trained at the academy in 18 courses (outdoor and indoor) during a nine-month-long training period.
The training includes anti-insurgency, disaster management, community policing, yoga, law, civic management and human rights.
"We will start training Deputy Superintendent of Police-level officers soon at the academy. The Bureau of Police Research and Development has also chosen the academy for its Bharat Darshan programme," Debnath said.
--IANS
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