Punjab appoints its first-ever female DPO from Balochistan

Suprintendent of Police (SP) Shazia Sarwer, from Balochistan, has been appointed as the District Police Officer (DPO) of Layyah. She is the first policewoman to secure the position from her province to oversee district security in Punjab.

According to a police official, she will be the fifth policewoman to be appointed as DPO in Punjab and also the first one with a Balochistan domicile.

The list of women who have served as DPO during a period of last 4 years include SP Amara Ather in Bahawalnagar and Sargodha, SP Nida Umar in Layyah, SP Shaista in Bhakkhar and SP Maria Mahmood in Pakpattan.

There has been an important policy shift in the Punjab Police after Inspector General of Police (IGP) Faisal Shahkar held multiple meetings to discuss women representation in the force and its increment. But a number of police officials strongly opposed the idea as they believed that women are unable to command because they face numerous challenges.

The details also revealed that Shahkar was advised to enlist female officers for administrative or other non-field positions. However, he disregarded them and directed field police officers to increase the amount of women police officers across the province.

Other than adding two female police officers to the Punjab Police Executive Board, the IGP has also intensified the role of women police councils in all Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).

In addition to this, he also recommended three women for positions of DPOs. The officers were interviewed at the CM Secretariat and the CM approved the posting of SP Sarwer as DPO Layyah.

It is important to mention that only 4,500 officers out of 200,000 are female in the Punjab police. Moreover, the female officers also face a number of hardships for their promotions. Only a handful are able to secure high positions of DIG or above.

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