Junagadh News - Women Police Station

At a time when the Gujarat Government is working to improve the condition of women in the state, the skewed ratio in the police force raises many questions about the actual progress made on ground.

Not withstanding the fact that around 30 per cent posts in the state police are allotted to women, there are not too many women in the force. About 60 per cent women working in the state police have got their jobs on compassionate grounds (where their husbands or fathers have expired and they have been given the jobs). The rest have either joined through direct entries or have joined for other reasons. The untimely or late recruitment has also been a cause of fewer women serving the police.

In Ahmedabad, there are 34 police stations out of which one is manned by women. The number of women in city police includes 35 head constables and 172 constables including the staff at the women police station. There are no lady inspectors. The women’s police station has a total strength of mere 35 women out of which five are sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, three head constables and 23 constables.

Earlier, the central government had decided to encourage all-women police stations in the country. These will be equipped with all facilities to handle cases independently. But with a lukewarm response to police jobs, this concept is still in the experimentation stage.

Women police stations in Gujarat can be found only in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Junagadh.

Certain factors that have led to the present tilted scenario throw light on the lesser number of women in police: the most common being gender discrimination.

“Gender discrimination is evident among IAS and IPS officers also. There are hardly any women holding higher posts or getting promotions to the ranks of SP or Commissioner. With less number of women joining police, very few reach the top,” said an IPS officer posted in Gujarat.

How challenging is this job for women? “People have a wrong notion about women working in police. I won’t call it difficult; if it’s difficult for us, then it’s difficult for men as well. Women need to have mental strength to deal with every obstacle,” said Usha Rada, ACP of Karanj police station in Ahmedabad.

Junagadh(Saurastra)-Kathiyavadi Talks-Proud to be Gujarati

(1) Gujarat is one of the most prosperous states of the country, having a per-capita GDP 3.2 times India's average.

(2) If it was a nation it would have been 67th richest nation in the world above many European and Asian economies like China and Ukraine.

(3). Gujarat holds many records in India for economic development :-

20% of India's Industrial Output

9% of India's Mineral Production

22% of India's exports

24% of India's textile production

35% of India's pharmaceutical products

51% of India's petrochemical production

4. The world's largest ship breaking yard is in Gujarat near Bhavnagar at Alang.

5. Reliance Petroleum Limited, one of the group companies of Reliance Industries Limited founded by Dhirubhai Ambani operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world’s largest grass roots refineries.

6. Gujarat ranks first nationwide in gas-based thermal electricity generation with national market share of over 8% and second nationwide in nuclear electricity generation with national market share of over 1%.

7. Over 20% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Gujarat.

8. Over 35% of the stock market wealth of India is with Gujarati People.

9. Over 60% of Indian Population in North America is Gujarati.

10. An average income of a Gujarati family in North America is three times more than the average income of an American family.

11. Gujarat is having the longest sea shore compared to any other Indian state.

12. Gujarat is having the highest no. of operating airports in India (Total 12).

13. India's 16% of Investment are from Gujarat.

14. Gujarat is having highest no. of vegetarian people compared to any other state in India.

15. The first ALL VEG PIZZA-HUT was opened in Ahmedabad.

16. Ahmedabad “the commercial capital of Gujarat is the seventh largest city in India”.

17. Surat is the fastest growing city in the world.

18. Gandhinagar is the Greenest Capital City in whole Asia.

19. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) is Asia's 1’st and world's 45th ranked management college located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

20. Gujarat is the safest state as the rate of it is 8.2 which is the least in India even after considering 2002 communal riots, stated by India Today 2005 report.

21. Gujarat is having least against women among all Indian states (excluding Goa) where AP is 1st, Delhi is 2nd, Bihar is 3rd, and Zarakhand is 4th and UP is 5th.

22. Ahmedabad which is the seventh largest city in India is the lowest in rate among all Tier-I and Tier-II cities of India.

23. Ahmedabad is ranked 2nd in Real Estate - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai & Delhi. 3rd in Policy Initiatives - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Calcutta, Mumbai & Delhi. 4th in Manpower - Ahead of Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai & Delhi.

Sasan Gir National Park Junagadh District Gujarat India

If you are in the Gir forests to watch the Asiatic lion, don’t be surprised to find women forest guards in the woods. It’s another male bastion which has been busted.

Gujarat forest department has sought to break the barrier, by introducing for the first time a large number of women guards and foresters in the jungles.

Of the 307 forest guards recruited through special camps in districts over the last one year, 51 are women. And out of 180 foresters recruited at four zonal camps held this May in Surat, Junagadh, Vadodara and Gandhinagar as many as 44 are women.

Till these recruitment, there were just two women working in the forests and both were Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers. Anita Karn is posted in Junagadh and Aradhana Sahu in Mehsana.

Fourteen women foresters have been posted in Gir and their boss, Anita Karn, is happy to have them around. “They have been quite useful in gathering information, carrying out raids and talking to womenfolk in the forests,” she told TOI over phone.

Aradhana Sahu added: “Lady Forest staffers are proving to be extremely useful in every sector, be it joint forest management, in which involvement of village women is critical, or guiding tourists in the wild and guarding wildlife.”

Forest officials in Gandhinagar say the women were recruited on the basis of their physical fitness and knowledge of neighboring forest areas. The physical test included long jump, high jump and rock-climbing. “We are happy such a large number of women applied for the jobs and also made it in the end,” said a senior forest official.

Girnar Mountain Hills Junagadh City Gujarat India

The Gujarat government is considering resumption of mining activities around the Girnar forest sanctuary, which was closed down. “We will consider the issue after the proposal is brought before the government,” Gujarat State Forest Environment Minister Mangubhai Patel said.

The Gujarat government had declared around 200 sq km Girnar forest area, located near Junagadh, a sanctuary in July 2008.

Following this declaration, the operations in the 77 mines located within a 5-km radius of the sanctuary limit, were brought to a halt, rendering over 25,000 mine workers jobless.

These workers launched an agitation in support of their demand for the resumption of stone mining activities, seeking an amicable solution.

Lakhabhai Parmar, local municipal corporator of Junagadh and a leader of the mine workers questioned the government’s rationale behind the closure of the mines.

“If the industrial units of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation located in the area can operate within a 5-km radius of the sanctuary limit and the sanctuary rules are not applicable to them, how come they are applicable to these mines?” Mr. Parmar asked.

Junagadh Town Hall Health Center Saurashtra Kathiyavad Gujarat India

Gujarat government on Saturday decided to allocate Rs 25 crore each to six municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, for developing city Infrastructure.

According to an official release of the state urban development department, AMC has been asked to use the grant for building a four-lane railway over-bridge and a new multistorey building for the LG Hospital from the grant. "In all, we have allocated Rs 150 crore,"urban development minister Nitin Patel said.

As for Vadodara, its municipal corporation has been asked to utilise the grant for building a new overhead tank and an indoor complex.

The municipal corporation in Junagadh will be using the grant for building a new health center, renovate the Junagadh Town Hall and set up a new vegetables market.

The official note does not say if the grant is in lieu of octroi abolition by the seven municipal corporations. It is also silent as to why Surat has not been given a grant.