Madhya Pradesh Police has started organising ‘vertical interactions’ between their police officers, thereby giving them a sense of transparency so that they can share their problems and, together, find solutions to problems bothering them.
In this regard, the state police, under the leadership of IPS officers Deepika Suri, Vineet Kapoor, Anuradha Shanker and Pragya Srivastava organised workshops where they invited spouses and family members of women police personnel to sensitise them about the hard work the ladies in uniform put in daily.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Ms. Deepika Suri, IPS, spoke about the idea behind the initiative, and its success.
THE NEED FOR SENSITIZING SPOUSES AND FAMILY
Madhya Pradesh has a 33 per cent reservation for women in the police, which has increased their representation in the force over the past few years. However, women still comprise only about 6.3 per cent of the police force (constable to deputy superintendent/additional superintendent ranks). The national average is 10.3 per cent. The total strength of the state police, including IPS officers, is 121,000.
The need for the sensitisation plan became apparent when a large number of female police officers in the state began requesting leave to attend to personal and family matters. This resulted in a shortage of female police officers for specific tasks such as investigating crimes against women and maintaining order during women’s protests and dharnas.
“During a three-day workshop conducted by the department, quite similar to the All India Women Conference, I was speaking to a fellow woman officer who happened to mention the need for sensitising the husbands and family members of women personnel as they are unable to understand, at times, that females have the same job responsibilities as a man. Due to familial pressures and children, they are the ones who are asked to take a leave from their job, in case any family function or emergency appears. These women work tirelessly throughout the day, in fields or in their offices, and once back home, they get ready to take care of their family members and kids. Their spouses’ support alone can make their life a tad bit easier,” Ms. Suri told Indian Masterminds.
OBJECTIVE OF THE INITIATIVE
The officer and her colleagues immediately liked the idea and, as a group, decided to organise workshops specifically for the spouses of female police personnel. Being the Inspector General of a zone, it was easier for Ms. Suri to conduct the workshop in her region. She immediately went through the records to make a list of how many couples work in the service.
“There were around 30 couples in the service and we decided to call them for the first stage of our project, which was held in Pachmarhi in April, during which women personnel gave an account of the domestic responsibilities that their husbands and family expect them to perform besides cooking, such as taking care of children and attending to family obligations like marriage and anniversaries,” shared the officer.
The objective of organising such workshops is to make the women police personnel’s partners, and by extension, their family members, better acquainted with the demands of a police job and encourage them to play a more supportive role in the discharge of family responsibilities so that woman officer can be more effective at work.
AN ELABORATE INTERACTION
The workshop didn’t just put the women police’s points of view across but also gave the opportunity to their male counterparts to talk about their expectations, and where they felt that things weren’t going on the right track.
Ms. Suri conducted a SWOT analysis with the participants where they could explain the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of having their partner in the same service.
“We had very informal discussions where we discussed the idea of an ideal husband/wife, how they got married, how difficult was it for the women police personnel to find a suitable husband since many men are under the notion that they would not like to marry a girl who belongs to the police, and other similar topics. It was more like a workshop that gave people a structured mode of conversation so they could talk about things in a more professional sort of way,” she shared with Indian Masterminds.
The workshop took place the entire day and, interestingly, some police personnel came to the place with their kids, as well. Apart from that, women police on maternity leave also came out to join the workshop.
A SUCCESSFUL INTERVENTION
The workshop was a huge success, and even after it ended, several people stayed back to talk about their individual problems and discuss them. The senior officers listened to everyone and worked out solutions together.
The programme received widespread recognition and now the Mahila Suraksha Wing (MSW) has decided to upscale it. They have written to all the zones of the state to hold similar workshops for their women police personnel.
Ms. Suri and her colleagues provided a good forum to not only the women personnel, but also to their spouses who can now come out and talk about their problems. At the same time, it will offer a chance to sensitise them about the responsibilities that their partners are handling, both on duty and at their homes.
