Maneka Gandhi asks home ministry to consider women's quota in police

The women and child development ministry has requested the home ministry to take up with the various state governments the issue of 33 percent reservation of posts for women in police forces, official sources said on Sunday.

In a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi was cited to have said: "I request you to take up the issue of 33 percent reservation for women in police forces at your level so that together we can address the problem of violence against women."

Gandhi has pitched reservation for women in police forces as one of the key steps which can stop violence against women. The union cabinet has announced 33 percent reservation for women in the police at lower levels in seven union territories of India, including Delhi.

The initiative aims at buttressing women's power in the police forces and to make them more gender-sensitive. Besides general category, it will also cover Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Of a total number of 80,000 police personnel in Delhi police, women personnel constitute barely 8,000 at present.