Be sensitive to women during anti-Naxal ops: Ramesh to CRPF

New Delhi: Union minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday asked CRPF personnel to be sensitive while dealing with women during anti-Naxal offensives and carry out their operations in a "people friendly manner".

Ramesh, who has extensively worked with the Central Reserve Police Force during development initiatives started by the government in Maoist violence-hit areas, also suggested a three-point strategy to be followed by the officials and personnel of the force in these areas. "You should have a sensitive approach with regard to human rights violations issues. We are instruments of a democratic state and we are wedded to constitutional and democratic processes. We must initiate the system of transparency and accountability and wherever there is a complaint the CRPF should not hide behind the cloak of secrecy," the Union Rural Development Minister said. "The CRPF should carry out the operations in a sensitive and people friendly manner. In order to instill confidence in the locals of these areas we should be sensitive to gender dimensions and women. This will go a along way in assuaging the local sentiments," he said while delivering a lecture during a run-up to the diamond jubilee celebrations of the force later this year. The country`s largest paramilitary force has deployed close to 90,000 personnel for these operations and Ramesh has travelled to many of the forces` remote locations in Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh as part of his ministerial duties. He also worked closely with the force in 2012 when CRPF cleared the Saranda forest area in Jharkhand from Naxal domination. Ramesh said most of the problems, in these areas where there are large tribal populations, occur when there are interactions with women. As a plan the force could even think of deploying some of their women personnel at some feasible locations and increase their participation in the duties they render, he suggested.