n The state police brass has decided not to set up more all-women police stations after two such stations were set up in Srinagar and Almora. Quizzed over why the police department had backtracked from its earlier plan of taking such all-women police stations across the state, the additional director general of police (ADG) law and order Ashok Kumar said on Friday that every police station is now women-friendly. “We have appointed one women senior inspector and four women constables for every police station,” he said. Notably, the state police had rolled out the all-women police station plan to help the women to file complaints at the police stations without the least of inhibition. The senior cops had said at the time that such police stations would be set up in many places across the state. However, the move has been withdrawn after two of such police stations had been set up.
The police department insiders said that the two all-women police stations having failed to rise up to the expectations had made the police brass to drop the idea. “We are instead raising the strength of the women personnel to make all the police stations women-friendly. This is yielding results too,” said a police department insider.
Speaking of the matter, ADG law and order Ashok Kumar said, “We have stopped perusing the idea of all- women police station because such police stations which are presently functioning in Almora and Srinagar have failed to fulfil the purpose for which they were set up. What we have found is that the women living in both the areas are inclined to file complaints at the local or nearby police stations. They are not willing to go to the all -women police stations to file complaints. The number of general complaints filed at these two police stations is more than the women-specific complaints.”
He further said that they are now focused on making every police station women-friendly. “We are making every police station women-friendly. With this objective in view, one woman senior inspector and four women constables are being appointed at every police station across the districts,” he said. He added, “Till now we have not received any complaint to the effect that the women are facing problems or they are hesitant to file complaint at any of the police stations across the state. Things are going on smoothly.”