BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police’s decision to appoint an all-woman special police officers (SPOs) team to keep eve-teasers at bay in the Capital City is a laudable move, and in complete sync with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s mission of women empowerment.
The entire idea of security and safety of women at educational institutions and crowded workplaces requires extra sensitivity and who better than women to take up that responsibility! It brings in a sense of assuredness among women and that is what the SPO scheme is aimed at.
That is exactly why it was surprising to see a Biju Janata Dal spokesperson questioning the decision on Friday. Does he believe that women are not up to the task? Or was it his party’s stand?
The spokesperson even picked holes in Twin City Police Commissioner Sudhansu Sarangi’s comment that women should not marry men who can’t cook. Besides the fact that it was stated as an example, the top cop was spot on.
All that BJD has to do is to seek inspiration from the party supremo. One of the lasting and shining legacies of Naveen would always be his relentless effort to put women in the highest sphere of governance and politics.
Be it the 71-year-old SHG pioneer Pramila Bisoi or a political greenhorn like Chandranu Murmu - when political parties across the country were going hyperbole on women empowerment as an issue before 2019 elections, it was only Naveen who had the courage and confidence to walk the talk.
With a rise in crime against women, the Chief Minister himself has harped on establishment of women desks at all police stations. The Paree campaign by the State Police was one such initiative that wanted to bring bigger awareness against crime and violence against women.
In fact, ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative in police is about behavioural change among police towards people who visit the police stations and according them dignity and respect. Bringing in more women in that space would only help bridge the gender divide and certainly won’t break the society.