After mahila cops, Maneka pitches for training women politicos at grassroot level

The idea is to have women inducted in the political process right from the grassroot level than have them entering from the top said Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi. 

“I have asked the National Commission for Women to train two lakh women from zila parishads. These are those women who are selected as pradhans. Through this endeavour we will see women’s active involvement in the political process right from rudimentary levels. My dream is to have these two lakh women as trained responsible pradhans,” she explained.

The ministry has also been actively pursuing the appointment of a Mahila Police Volunteers (MPV) at every village. Millennium Post on 14th October 2015 had reported, “Mahila police volunteers should have no political affiliation, says WCD ministry.” 

Talking on this initiative Maneka said,“The Home Ministry has been very positive on this issue. We hope to implement this by next year and we will see every single village with a special woman 

Police officer. 

The Superintendent of Police (SP) or Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) will be selecting these women officers and then after that we will be training them.”

“All the paper work for this scheme has been prepared on what they will do, what they will look after and how they will report. We are ready and as soon the file is passed by the Home Ministry we will be implementing the scheme. 

The Home Ministry has given its in- principle clearance and we are waiting for the file now,” she added.

“This initiative will be very crucial as it will help prevention of crimes against women at the grassroot level,” added the minister. The Special Protection Officer, called Mahila Police Volunteer, will be a woman over 21 with no political affiliation and a minimum qualification of 12th standard. 

The volunteer will play a crucial role in creating community awareness to address issues related to crime against women, missing children, trafficking of children, child marriage, dowry harassment and any other form of violence faced by women in both public and private spaces.