First women BSF recruits

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram took the salute from the passing out parade of the first batch of 178 women recruits at the Subsidiary Training Centre of the at Kharkan on Saturday.
Addressing a gathering after the ceremony, he said that women are not less then men as they are progressive in all fields and are contributing their share in the development of country. He also said that women of the country had a great strength and could play their role more effectively to make the nation rich and prosperous.
They had already doing commendable job in civil as well as in Army sector, he said.
He said that keeping in view their successful role in Army, women had been assigned to work in paramilitary forces and their recruitment had been started.
The first batch of 178 recruits had completed 36 weeks of rigorous training.
In fact, this is first ever in modern India, when women were being deployed on combat role on the international border in parity with their male comrades-in-arms in true spirit of Indian government policy of women empowerment.
Further recruitment of women recruits would also be done in future, he said. He appreciated the first impressive passing out parade of women recruits.
The Union Home minister gave away the prizes to the women recruits for their outstanding performance during training.
BSF Director General M L Kumawat said that the first ever recruitment of Mahila Constable in Northwest India as conducted at BSF Headquarters at Jalandhar on June 11, 2008.
As many as 640 women were selected out of approximately 8500 applicants.
Their selection process consisted of preliminary medical screening, physical efficiency test, written test, interview and final medical examination.
Training of first batch started on November 10, 2008 at BSF Kharkan Camp, Hoshiarpur.
Their training is at par with that of male constables, and they have been trained in physical training, drill, field engineering, camp training, intelligence and vigilance, internal security duties and natural calamity.
There are approximately 300 fencing gates on 553 km long Punjab border (IB) with Pakistan, he said.
These gates facilitate farmers and their women folk to go across for cultivation on their farms and lands, existing ahead of fencing.
The newly passed out Mahila Constables will be deployed on Border Out Posts (BOPs) for search and frisking of women folk going ahead of fencing gates, he said.
Their services, if required, will also be used on internal security duties and counter insurgency roles being performed by the Border Security Force, he said.
Press Trust of India, Saturday July 25, 2009, Hoshiarpur