NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday announced that it has sanctioned a first-ever all-women CISF reserve battalion comprising more than 1,000 personnel keeping in mind the burgeoning duties of the force at airports and other installations of strategic and national importance.
The decision in this regard has been taken by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and this milestone reflects the growing demand for women representation in security roles, especially at critical facilities like airports, metro stations, and national monuments, a senior official said.
“The newly sanctioned all-women reserve battalion will be staffed with 1,025 personnel, all of whom will be selected from within the existing CISF workforce, which is approximately 2 lakh strong. The battalion will be led by an officer holding the rank of Senior Commandant, with the personnel expected to handle a variety of duties at sensitive installations across the country,” a senior official said.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has 12 reserve battalions under its establishment at present.
As the name suggests, these units are kept in reserve and used as reinforcement when the force gets a new job like temporary duties of conducting elections and permanent tasks of guarding an installation like the Parliament House complex that came under CISF cover earlier this year, another official said.
The force has a huge women interface at facilities like the 68 civil airports that it guards, the Delhi Metro and historical monuments like the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort, an MHA official said. Additionally, the force had projected a requirement of having an all-women reserve battalion, which has been sanctioned.
Apart from these installations, the 1969-raised CISF provides a counter-terrorist security cover to a number of facilities in the nuclear and aerospace domain apart from those in the private sector like the Infosys offices in Bengaluru and Pune, Reliance refinery in Jamnagar (Gujarat), among others.
The newly sanctioned battalion marks a significant step in the empowerment of women within India’s security forces. With a large female workforce already stationed at airports and other crucial locations, the all-women battalion is expected to enhance the operational capabilities of the CISF while promoting gender equality in the security sector, the officials noted.