In every individual’s life, regardless of his or her gender, choosing the right career is a crucial juncture in life. Series of contemplation are undertaken during the phase proceeding the decision when both men and women try to reflect upon their proficiencies and inadequacies. More often than not, the ultimate decision is made in favour of those career options, which promise a very lucrative pay scale and allow them to create a world of their own choice of lifestyle and definition of comfort. However, for some individuals, selecting a career option is synonymous with encountering formidable challenges which would extract the best aptitudes from their personalities, for example, let’s consider women IPS officers. For many, a career is equivalent to serving one’s country and its people.
The career of joining the Indian Police Service (IPS) is one such challenging career option that is a dream career for many. It is above all an opportunity to demonstrate the passion to serve the motherland, which is what drives many young men and women in India. However, it cannot be refuted that when it comes to making a career choice, the ‘gender factor’ always tends to get in the way. To be more specific, the stereotypical tendency of restricting women from making fearless career choices that satiate their passion is like a bane to society. Not only that, this kind of notion, excused as a concern for the security of women tends to dissuade many talented and accomplished women in India from joining challenging careers like that of the IPS. Nevertheless, it cannot be disclaimed that despite existing biases, many women take the examinations, get selected, and opt for the Indian Police Service, thereby rendering a massive blow to the orthodox thinkers who still believe that women should stick to safe and snug jobs and consider ease, safe, and comfort to be pointers that should take precedence over others while deciding on the career choice of a woman.
There are several reasons why women IPS officers excel in their careers.
Although it might be a bitter pill to swallow, the number of crimes against women is still on the rise in India. Albeit the Indian law and order system is constantly on vigil to take rigorous measures against the ones who commit these atrocities against women, on several occasions, the victims of these crimes are often subjected to obnoxious treatments and endless harassment by the misogynistic stances of the society. All these barbarisms agitate modern Indian women, instigating them to do something to put an end to all this ruthlessness. One of the best options to do that is to aim for the career option of women IPS officers who would provide them with ample scope to utilise the power vested in them by the Indian government to eradicate these evils from society. Not only would these young women get a chance to work on challenging cases and explore the intrepid facet of their personalities, but will also help them contribute on a large scale to transforming society into a better place for women.
There are no qualms in saying that the patriarchal setup and male-dominated hierarchy of the Indian society still believe that women are too inept to be given a dominant position in society, especially in the law-and-order system. This bias, unfortunately still exists in spite of women like Sanjukta Parashar, Kiran Bedi, Subhashini Sankaran, and Aparajita Rai having consolidated their positions as renowned women IPS officers of India. To shatter this bias, the best way for the women is to march right into the profession, which is considered to be a monopoly for men and demonstrate their mettle, which is not anything less than that of the men if and when honed with adequate training.
The position of an IPS officer comes with a lot of honour as well as responsibility bestowed by the Indian government. It empowers an individual with mighty power to make decisions for the assigned jurisdiction, which, if exercised effectively, can obliterate crimes happening in that area. Since empowerment of women is one of the major concerns of the feminists and the social reformers of the current times, the career choice of women IPS officers seems to be one of the most empowering avenues that the young women of India can probe. It will not only allow them to command respect from those sections of the society which had always labelled women as mere conquests or possessions of men but also carve out highly esteemed positions for themselves in the Indian law and order system.
From a more materialistic point of view, the career of women IPS officers in India is a very promising one because of the number of privileges and allowances that are reserved for this vulnerable post. Moreover, becoming women IPS officers in India can allow Indian women to shift to any of the prime investigating agencies of India like CBI, IB, NIA, and so on. To be more specific, starting a career from the rank of an IPS officer can allow Indian women to find a flourishing career in different kinds of government agencies, ministries, or even embassies that have greater international clout. It can be said that the career option of being an IPS officer literally is a gateway towards many other career options, which might propel Indian women higher into the judicial and political hierarchy of India.
By choosing a career as a woman IPS officer in India, the young woman can not only become the voice of the underrepresented section of the society, especially in these male-dominated areas of the law-and-order system, but also the embodiments of self-confidence and fortitude. Moreover, the choice to join a service that is still considered to be a male stronghold will serve as a persistent source of inspiration for the youth and the posterity, who might not even blink an eye before signing themselves up for such an onerous and yet highly honoured task of protecting the country and its people from crimes and criminals alike.
