New Delhi: The CRPF, which happens to be the country’s largest paramilitary force, has for the first time decided to deploy over 560 women commandos for undertaking anti-Naxal operations in some of the Naxal-infested states.
The entire batch of 567 women personnel, who passed out from the force’s Ajmer training centre, will be deployed in Maoist-hit areas in “company formation” style, which means about 100 personnel at one time. The women unit has been specially trained keeping in mind the requirements in the Naxal areas.
While initially these women personnel will be deployed in one company at a time and after some time their deployment and work utility will be scaled up. The CRPF has already created living infrastructure and barracks for these women at certain locations while more such facilities will be created in due course of time.
The CRPF, officials said, has been working on the concept that if Maoists can have women in their ranks, why not the security forces.
Recently, border-guarding force Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had also declared that it will post its women personnel in full combat role in its units along the Sino-Indian border.
The latest batch of the Central Reserve Police Force women personnel have been trained for 44 weeks in jungle warfare, unarmed combat, smart-weapons firing and other drills. The force had initiated a plan in this regard last year when two small teams of these women personnel were sent for familiarisation exercises and based in CRPF camps in the worst-affected Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and some sensitive LWE-hit areas of Jharkhand.
Once deployed, the women personnel will be operating from active CRPF bases and will carry arms and undertake patrols like their male counterparts. Officials said there are specific reasons and operational benefits of deploying women combatants in LWE areas.
They can easily interact with the local women folk which will not only help in gathering good intelligence but also help bring the force closer to the locals.
