NEW DELHI: Only two women have been decorated till date with Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, and one of them received it posthumously for the CRPF. Not only this, Kamlesh Kumari, the CRPF constable who was the first to sound an alert when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide squad stormed into Parliament premises in a white Ambassador on December 13, 2001, prompting the security personnel to engage and neutralise the terrorists before they could enter Parliament House, also happens to be the only CRPF personnel in the hallowed list of Ashoka Chakra awardees.On September 25, the CRPF will celebrate 40 years of selfless duty and gallant actions by women brave hearts like Kamlesh Kumari. During the commemoration event, CRPF DG GP Singh will, alongside the President of CRPF Family Welfare Association (CWA), felicitate veteran and serving women personnel for “their extraordinary contributions and sacrifice”.It was in 1986 that CRPF raised its first-ever woman combatant battalion; in 2022, two personnel from the same battalion were elevated to Inspector-General (IG) level posts, with Annie Abraham appointed as IG, Rapid Action Force, and Seema Dhundia as IG in charge of Bihar sector.As of today, women personnel hold charge of multiple CRPF sectors, including critical ones like Jammu. IPS officer Sanjukta Parashar recently became the first woman to lead the CRPF’s jungle warfare commando unit, CoBRA. As part of a conscious push by CRPF to place its woman officers in the lead and combatant roles, women personnel are currently heading sectors like Jammu, CoBRA, RAF, North East, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh as IG.In the past 40 years, women’s footprint in CRPF has expanded significantly, with six exclusive mahila battalions fully deployed across critical security grids and 64 women teams, comprising 24 personnel each, embedded in RAF for specialised crowd control and anti-riot duties. Integrated women components are also serving in frontline roles, including the dedicated Bastariya battalion raised to tackle Left-wing extremism.CRPF women personnel’s 40 years of selfless service and bravery have received due recognition. Constable Kamlesh Kumari was awarded the Ashok Chakra in 2002, constable Vimla Devi was honoured with Sena Medal and Lance Naik Rajwanti Devi received the Army Chief’s commendation for playing a critical operations role at the Elephant Pass check post in Sri Lanka in 1988. Constable Bindu Kumre has also received a gallantry medal for displaying exemplary bravery during the Srinagar airport terrorist attack in 2001.

CRPF on Tuesday described the induction of women personnel in the force 40 years ago as “a pioneering step (that) broke deep-rooted barriers, redefining women’s empowerment, operational inclusivity and equal opportunity within the nation’s security framework”.