Ranchi to have its own all-women CRPF combat troop

CRPF Director-General K. Durga Prasad announced this week that the Central Reserve Police Force will induct an all-women troop in Ranchi, Jharkhand, in the coming 10 days. Prasad is the man behind building barracks and quarters for armymen of the Rapid Action Force of the 106 battalion at Sundernagar on the outskirts of Jamshedpur.

He added that a women's battalion is training at Salboni in West Bengal and a part of it will be deployed in Ranchi in 10 days.

The battalion that is ready to be deployed will act against Naxalite activities and Left wing extremism that is on a high in Jharkhand. According to Prasad, Maoist activities have decreased in the country since continuous actions are being taken against them. “We have carried out nine inter-state anti-Naxal operations in states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh,” he told The Hindu. In these operations, 10 Naxal camps were destroyed and a huge amount of arms and ammunition seized.

The women in the battalion are given training in arms, map-reading and karate classes. They are also trained to live in a jungle.

There are a total three women's battalions in CRPF under its ‘Mahila Battalion’ category.

The force started inducting women in combat roles last year on constable posts. The move came on the heels of Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar announcing that women can be trained and deployed to fight to maintain law and order in a place.

Picture credit- Indiatimes