Local customs hampering women’s recruitment in Bajaur police

BAJAUR: Regressive local customs and lack of proper accommodation facilities are hampering women’s recruitment in the Bajaur police department, it is learnt.

Sources in the local police department told Dawn that it was important that women were appointed in the police to deal with the issues of their gender effectively.

They said as per the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police rules, it is mandatory that alongside policemen, there must be policewomen in every district to tackle the gender-specific issues efficiently.

However, they disclosed that there was no local woman in Bajaur police, which comprised over 2,800 policemen.

They said this was despite the fact that policing system was extended to the tribal districts in April 2019 following the merger of erstwhile Fata into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in May 2018 in line with the 25th Constitutional Amendment.

The sources said it was decided that like rest of the newly-merged districts, up to 30 policewomen would also be recruited in Bajaur. For the purpose, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police had published an advertisement in national newspapers inviting applications from women to apply for the post of lady police constable through Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (Etea). But no woman applied.

After a gap of about six months, the sources said the provincial police department again advertised the post with the hope women would apply, but again no woman applied for the post.

The sources said after receiving cold response, the department re-advertised the post, relaxing the age limit, qualification, height, etc. to ‘encourage women to apply for the post’. But again no one applied for the post, which advertised lastly in December 2022.

According to the sources, regressive local customs were the major bar on women’s recruitment in police as these traditions didn’t allow women to work in a male-dominant atmosphere.

However, some sources in the police and local residents blamed ‘the lack of proper accommodation facilities’ for women’s disinterest in the police department.

Ghulam Hazrat, a resident of Khar town, said one of his daughters applied for the constable post after passing her matriculation examination last year, but she was disappointed when she learnt that the local police had very ‘poor’ accommodation facilities for women officials.

When contacted, a senior police officer confirmed that local women didn’t take interest in jobs in police owing to unknown reasons.

However, he said currently, there were 10 lady police constables serving in Bajaur police, who were from outside.

District police officer Nazeer Khan told Dawn on contact that he hoped women would show interest in jobs in the police department in future.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023