PM Modi highlights women's contribution in armed forces

Modi's praise comes days after Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said women have always been and will always remain equal contributors within the Armed Forces in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed the contribution of women in Armed Forces and said that the strength of women joining the police force has more than doubled including that of security forces. “Today, Indian women have shown their calibre across all verticals,” he said during his 82nd edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’.

PM Modi also shared data from the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPRD) to highlight the increasing participation of women in the police forces.(ANI Photo)

Praising the rise in the number of women police personnel, Modi said it has jumped to over 2.15 lakh from 1.05 lakh in 2014.

He also shared data from the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPRD) to highlight the increasing participation of women in the police forces.

“Friends, today when we go to airports, metro stations or see government offices, brave women of @CISFHQrs are seen guarding every sensitive place. The most positive effect of this is on the morale of our police force as well as society,” PM Modi said.

Modi's praise comes days after Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said women have always been and will always remain equal contributors within the Armed Forces in India. Singh said that terrorism is a common threat to the countries under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that “challenges us in equal measure” and it reinforced the role of all citizens in the fight against it.

“And this fight cannot be won by half the population of our region or of a country. Women have and will remain equal contributors in this fight, both within the armed forces and beyond them,” Singh during his address at the SCO international webinar on the role of women in the armed forces.

The defence minister also said that the nation was among the oldest to induct women into its armed forces and highlighted the role of women in the Indian Military Nursing Service for more than 100 years now. He also said that the army had begun commissioning women in 1992 and they are now present within most branches.