The weaker sex in Punjab will soon draw strength from women donning khakis, holding batons and guns in the police force; for, the Punjab Government has decided to eventually increase their strength in the force to 33 per cent.
To begin with, Punjab Government would soon start a recruitment drive to select 500 women deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs). The women DSPs and ASIs would be in-charge of women police stations across the State.
Emphasising on increasing the strength of women in the police, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir maintained that his aim was to increase the strength of women in Punjab Police from three per cent to 15 per cent and then to 33 per cent eventually.
Sukhbir, also holding the Home portfolio, was interacting with the media after flagging off the Women Commando Squads for all corporation towns and big cities at PCA Stadium, Mohali on Monday.
In a first of its kind initiative, Punjab has launched Mobile Women Commando Squads in an attempt to curb the crime against women. It is believed that the “all-women squad” will help in speeding up the police response and help in prevention of crime against women, while assisting the victims and bringing the perpetrators to the book.
“This initiative has been necessitated keeping in view the rising crime against women all over the country. We have given intensive training to Women Commandos so that could deal with any eventuality,” said Sukhbir.
The pilot project of Women Armed Special Protection Squads (WASPS) was launched by the State Government the previous week in Bathinda Zone. Sukhbir asserted that it was quiet encouraging as per the feedback received by him.
“Women are increasingly becoming confident to approach women commandos to report incidents of eve-teasing and other crime against women and seeing the success of this pilot project, it is being replicated throughout the State,” added Sukhbir.
Giving details on the functioning, Sukhbir said after receiving any complaint to women helpline, both mobile teams and the PCR personnel would respond.
“These mobile teams would be deployed at women colleges, schools, co-ed colleges, girls hostels, working women hostels, busy markets, malls, cinemas and other sensitive points,” he said, adding that it would check the offences like eve-teasing, molestation, stalking and chain snatching, among others.
Describing it as a confidence building measure for curbing crime against women, Sukhbir hoped that constitution and deployment of these teams would result in improving the police response to curb such crimes.
Responding to a query regarding demand of capital punishment for crimes like rape, Sukhbir said that he was for death penalty for rapes like that happened to five-year-old girl in Delhi.
On the issue of wealth tax on agriculture sector, Sukhbir said that the imposition of wealth tax on the farming community by Congress-led UPA Government has exposed the anti-farmer face of this Government, and the Shiromani Akali Dal would be “vociferously opposing this draconian move and raise this issue in both houses of Parliament”.
“It is ironical that if a multi-crore showroom in a city was on rent, it would not be covered under the definition of wealth tax as it was ‘productive asset’ but a farmer, who was feeding the country by sowing crop on a land near city would have to pay Rs1 lakh tax against his total income of Rs30,000,” he added.