BENGALURU: Exactly two years after they were introduced in the city, Pink Hoysalas have been only been half successful in meeting their purpose. The bright pink and white-hued police patrol vehicles were launched with the aim of helping women and children in distress, and also to empower female police personnel who would be a part of the patrolling team. While the first goal is being met with relative success, the project has also brought to light an unpleasant truth – the low number of female personnel in the city’s police force.
None of the 108 Pink Hoysalas out of the 273 in the city has a female cop on duty, according to police officials.The reason is said to be unwillingness on the part of the policewomen. “Ideally, there should be at least two female cops in the Hoysala. As of now, all Pink Hoysalas are manned by policemen. After the launch of this initiative, we had trained 14 female officers for 40 days to get their licence. But none of them is willing to take up this role,” K Ajay Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Control Room), told CE.
While 216 women cops would be required for patrolling duty in these vehicles, a senior police officer stated that their absence stems from the fact that they opt out citing several reasons. “They give plenty of personal reasons such as household roles, and even periods, to avoid patrolling and night duty,” the officer said.
According to Isha Pant, DCP (Southeast), there are women who do night duty and go for patrolling. “We can’t say they are not capable of doing the job,” she added.There is indeed a shortage of female staffers in the city police, Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar admitted. However, according to him, the presence of only one female policeperson is compulsory in the Pink Hoysala, along with a male cop.
“We are understaffed but recruitments have taken place and they are undergoing training as of now. They should join within six months,” he said, adding that they are also facing the issue of absence of policewomen for night patrolling due to staff shortage. According to the administration department, the recent recruitment has taken in 1,787 personnel, out of which 20 per cent are women.
When asked about two policemen patrolling in the Pink Hoysalas, Kumar said, “We need to ensure that a policewoman is present during the day. I will check with the divisional DCPs to deploy women police personnel for patrolling.”