Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Amir Zulfiqar Khan has announced that the quota of women in recruitment to the department will be increased to 25 per cent.
Addressing the first Provincial Women Police Conference, he said the province had less representation of women in the police and the deficiency would be addressed soon. The recruitment quota of women in the police and the ratio of women SHOs should also be enhanced in the districts, Khan added.
The problems of women police are well understood, all possible steps will be taken to solve them, he added. From SHOs and investigation in-charges to district police chiefs, women officers were being appointed in Punjab at every level, the IGP said while sharing steps being taken on their part.
Khan further said that problems of women police employees are well understood and all possible steps would be taken to solve them.
He said the appointment of women officers on supervisory positions in the field had brought about good results. Women who were part of the force should also prefer to work in the field instead of offices.
Aamir Zulfiqar said the policewomen were part of the trained force and he wanted to see them on the front in every field.
He said departmental issues, including transfer, posting and leave, of women police personnel would be resolved on a priority basis and they would be given equal opportunities for professional career growth along with the male officers.
Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal commended the conference organised by the Punjab Police, United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights (PCHR) for highlighting problems of women police officials. He said that such programmes not only drew attention towards the important problems faced by the force but also helped in formulating a plan of action to solve them.
He said the Punjab government was ready to extend all possible cooperation to solve the problems of women police officers.
SSP Nida Umar Chatha gave a presentation on the establishment, objectives and role of the Women Police Council, after which a session was held to identify the problems and difficulties faced by women officers and personnel.
PCHR Executive Director Shafique Chaudhry stressed the need of taking affirmative action at the policy and operational levels to ensure effective and fair representation of women in decision making in the government sector, especially the police.
USIP Country Director Imran Khan highlighted the importance of women policing in bridging the gap between the police and the community and said a campaign was focusing on building the capacity of women police officers to make them frontline law enforcers and active stakeholders of the justice sector.
DSP Usman Haider, Inspector Rabia Nosheen, and Sub-Inspectors Ishrat Rashid and Mehreen Fatima also spoke.
The speakers participated in a detailed discussion regarding the professional life of women police officers and personnel.
A session was also held on Gender Inclusive Policing, which was presided over by a former chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, Fauzia Viqar. Sumaira Samad, Tanveer Jahan, Nida Usman, Zoe Richards, Atif Mirza and Amara Shirazi expressed their views.
They called for finding concrete solutions to the problems and difficulties faced by women in the police force.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2023.
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