Women troopers of the CRPF will now have full body protectors designed specifically for them for an effective role in various law and order duties with improved protection from riotous mobs and stone pelters.
The gear has been designed ergonomically by the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), an agency of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Earlier, gender neutral protector gears were not available for women troops of the paramilitary and they had to rely on the products available for men which were uncomfortable for their body contours and even restricted their physical manoeuvrability during operations.
With the availability of the gender-specific protective gear, women troopers will be assured of greater comfort while deployed in Law and Order duties. The development of the gear is expected to fuel further research and development in the field of women-specific body armours and vests, officials said.
The gear is designed for protection during law and order duties like managing riotous mobs or stone pelters but will not provide cover from bullets, officials said.
In 2016, the National Conference for Women in police mooted the idea of gender-specific protective gears. Subsequently, the issue was flagged in Lok Sabha by then MP Anupriya Patel while discussing the problems faced by women in Police and Armed Forces.
Following this, the Union Home Ministry constituted a committee under Inspector General (Provisioning), CRPF, Anupam Kulshreshtha to work out on the issue of making available the protective gear for women which was unavailable at that time.
When contacted, Kulshreshtha told The Pioneer, "The development of the women-specific full body protectors is a pioneering step undertaken by the CRPF in collaboration with DIPAS that will help women to operate with ease during law and order situations. It is a welcome move."
"It took tireless and concerted efforts of CRPF in close association with DIPAS (Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences), DRDO, over two years to design such a gear. The scientists of DIPAS carried out a very careful study of women troopers of CRPF's Rapid Action Force to ergonomically design the body protector for women,' a senior CRPF official said.
After two years of extensive study on the requirements of the protective equipment, the product was was unveiled by CRPF DG Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar in the presence of DG Life Sciences A. K. Singh and Director of DIPAS Bhuvnesh Kumar besides a host of scientists of the DRDO agency and officials of the paramilitary.
"Today, by dint of sheer determination, hard work and professionalism, women in police forces, have made their presence felt pretty emphatically. This glory doesn't come easy to women troopers. The challenging duties prove to be even more daunting in the absence of gender specific protective gears. Surprisingly, till date, such women specific protective gears were conspicuous by their unavailability in the market," the CRPF said in a statement.
Officials said the prototype of the product is available and mass production will be undertaken soon.
The CRPF has 10 Mahila Battalions (10,000 personnel) and two Rapid Action Force (RAF) Battalions (2000 personnel). Once the equipment is procured in full measure, as many as 12,000 women troops in the CRPF will be benefited.