Patna: Altogether 223 women belonging to Tharu tribe will be inducted as members of Bihar Swabhiman Police Battalion (BSPB) at a function to be held in Patna on July 11.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar has given his consent to be chief guest at the function at the Bihar Military Police (BMP) premises in Patna. The battalion, comprising only members of the Tharu tribe from West Champaran’s Valmikinagar region, will be the first of its kind in the country.
A senior police officer, who is monitoring the induction programme, said on Tuesday that a decision to raise a new battalion exclusively for Tharu women, was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Nitish in 2014. “Now the battalion is all set to come into existence,” he told The Telegraph.
Though the state police already has a separate women’s battalion stationed at Sasaram in Rohtas district, the BSPB is different in the sense that it comprised of members of the Tharu tribe only. The motive behind raising the armed battalion of Tharu women was the social uplift of this tribe and empowerment of its women, the officer explained.
Authoritative sources said the government had sanctioned 992 posts, including that of commandant, assistant commandant, deputy superintendents of police, inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, constables and drivers. Only 223 women would be inducted as BSPB members.
The selected Tharu women were imparted requisite training at the BMP’s fifth battalion headquarters in Patna. They can handle AK-47, Insas rifle, self loading rifle (SLR) and light motor guns. “They are hardworking and can survive in adverse circumstances,” an officer who trained them said.
The state will incur an annual expenditure of Rs 36.36 crore on the new battalion.
The women to be inducted in the new battalion, however, refused to share their feelings. “We’ve been told not to share anything with journalists till the induction programme,” one of them said. The state has 18 battalions of the BMP, an elite force raised to deal with organised crime and contain Maoist activities. Gangotri Devi, who is associated with Tharu Vikas Sansthan, said: “This is like a dream come true for the Tharu women of Champaran.”
(The Telegraph)