There have been very few occasions in my career that I have thought of myself as a lady officer. The work I have done reflects my ethos as an IPS Officer, not as a lady IPS officer: ADG Renuk

ADG Mishra is a 1990 batch IPS officer posted in Uttar Pradesh as ADG (UP Police Recruitment & Promotion Board) and is also the Lucknow nodal officer for Mission Shakti. She has received many service decorations including the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished services, Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Services, UN Peacekeeping Medal and several Director General’s Commendation Discs both Gold and Silver.

1. You must have been asked many times about why you joined the IPS as against your male colleagues who are seldom asked the same question. How has IPS changed you as a person?

That is true. As there are only approximately 10% females in the police force and it is generally considered to be a “tough” profession, I am sure every female is asked this question. Leadership qualities are often confused with masculine qualities and socialization and stereotyping contribute to fixed notions on what should be an appropriate profession for females. So yes, I am sure my male colleagues would not have been asked so many questions about their choice. 

To answer the question, though, I grew up seeing my father don a uniform. He was in the Army and I was well aware of the sense of service he had for the country and the pride he had in his uniform. My mother, way back in the 50s was probably the first woman in her area, to don a khaki uniform as she joined NCC at a time when the locality where she lived never ever saw women in trousers. I always wanted to wear a uniform. My parents used to smile when I would jump up and stand to attention whenever the national anthem played even on the radio when nobody was watching. So joining the IPS was the natural thing to do, at a time when women had not yet been commissioned into the Army. I was introduced to the Civil Services as an option while I was still studying in school and with God’s grace I cleared the examination, so here I am, looking back at thirty one years of dedicated service in uniform and looking forward to  6 more years to go before I hang my boots, so to speak. 

IPS has changed me as a person by showing me how power and position can be put to good use by selfless service and that just having the ability to help people by doing right is empowerment in itself. The Indian Police Service, since my early days in service, has shown me almost every day, how much joy there is in helping the common man and woman who come to us for succour. It has helped me understand and appreciate that perceptions are sometimes deceptions and giving the other person the opportunity to explain his or her actions sometimes helps nip problems in the bud. It has helped me understand that trust begets trust and that I should not allow that which is not in my control to prevent me from doing what is in my control.

2. What is your opinion on how safe our cities are and what more should or need to be done? How can we make this society safer for all women?

Our cities are as safe as we can collectively make them. A city consists of its people and if they keep it safe, the city will be safe. It is about assuming responsibility at every level instead of considering it to be somebody else’s problem. The actual problem, according to me is the misplaced focus. At present our focus is on the physical manifestation of violence and the focus is therefore presently on the victim. Considering 98% of crimes against women are perpetrated by males, we need to convert this from a women’s issue to a men’s issue. We may make laws to punish perpetrators and we make them more and more stringent with more and more draconian punishments, but unless we assume responsibility as a society, school and as a family and actually tap into the mentality of the perpetrator, crime will go on. Numbers may increase because awareness has increased and facilities have been laid out such that women can come forward to report crime without feeling inhibited or discouraged in any way. We would rather that there is honest reporting in preference to lesser numbers because women do not come forward to report. But alongwith governmental and administrative efforts to prevent such violence and create a safe and secure environment for women and children, it is all the more necessary for each and every member of society to step up and become active bystanders. Stop remaining silent when harassment is taking place in your presence as this emboldens the perpetrator. Collective responsibility to remove gender disparities is the only way forward. Before we teach our girls to say NO, let us teach our boys to take NO for an answer.

When 93% of rapes are perpetrated by persons familiar to the victim, within the family, college, society, neighbourhood, then who is to blame. So we must not only ensure that we are not part of the problem but also actively come forward to being part of the solution. We must tap into everything and everybody that makes the city unsafe and do our bit to report, prevent and take action accordingly.

3. The domestic violence cases rose during the lockdown. This also showcased the way that women are treated at home and at times lack even the basic safety and norms. What is your opinion?

This is true. It is a matter of concern. We have made extensive efforts to spread awareness about our helplines – 112/1090/1098/1076/181 to encourage women to not suffer alone and to share their problems so that we might intervene in time. But we have also seen that while this may work in urban areas, there are still many rural women who do not have access to mobile phones. While there may be a phone in the family but that is generally in the possession of the male in the household. She cannot be expected to use her husband’s phone to complain about domestic violence. So what is needed is some kind of toll free booth to be set up in every village which she can access in emergency situations. 

The second large issue is the lack of support services after she does decide to take the step to complain against her husband. Her inability to support herself, the mindset of the family in believing that once she is married she has no place in her maiden home coupled with the judgmental socialization process of every individual in the hierarchy who tries to save her marriage for her by nudging her towards a compromise that her dignity should actually forbid her from entering into.

Self-reliance, financial equality, financial and emotional independence are very important and unless we are able to improve the support services we can provide to her, she is unlikely to take that step. She feels the responsibility of her children as well and often suffers because she wants them to have the backing that she feels the father is capable of providing for.

One-stop centres have been set up in every district in UP and mandated across the country to provide medical, legal aid and counselling, a short stay facility, a rescue vehicle and access to schemes supporting self-reliance and skill development. There is scope for improvement. Self-reliance will give her dignity, safety and security. These are also the mottos of Mission Shakti. All the three are interlinked.

4. Equality of work at home: Many Indian women are burdened with all the household chores and that is a big reason that they are losing out.  We have also heard about “monetizing” the services of women homemakers. What are your thoughts on this?

2011 was the first engendered census in which they started even considering that women had an economic role to play and should be counted among the contributors to the GDP of the country. I was informed a few weeks ago that there was a Govt order in a particular state a decade ago which specified the work hours and timings for office work and employees. It said that working hours were from 10 to 6 but for women their timings would conclude at 5pm because they had to go back home and cook food. It set me thinking. The Govt obviously thought that they were doling out a welfare benefit and that women should be grateful for the special privilege. But what in essence they were doing was to further perpetuate a gender stereotype that women had go and cook food. So the welfare actually was directed at the rest of the family and not the woman employee. Imagine what would have happened if they gave that one hour off so that the male employee could go home and cook food or at least contribute to house work? Many extremely talented women sacrifice their aspirations so that their families do not suffer, so that children are not left unattended, and so on. It is time, the stereo types are busted and it is time that women get valued for their contribution. Considering master chefs are mostly male, what prevents society from handing over this role of cooking at home and for the family to a species that is clearly more proficient in cooking, as numbers in the profession suggest.  

Although several court judgments dating back to 1961 have mentioned the valuation of domestic work done by women but these are only in case of after death insurance claims. I was reading that Kamal Haasan, the actor and politician has declared in his party manifesto that women will be paid for their domestic work with proper valuation. It remains to be seen as to how this will be done, but I would rather that domestic work is equally shared by all members of the family whether male or female and stereotyping is stemmed at the upbringing stage itself by parents, teachers in particular and society in general.

5. UP CM launched ‘Mission Shakti’ and vowed ‘zero tolerance’ to crimes against women. What are the goals of Mission Shakti?

Mission Shakti was launched by the Hon’ble CM UP on 17th October for a period of 6 months. The aim was to involve all departments, villages, families and individuals in the state of Uttar Pradesh to assume social responsibility to focus in a Mission mode towards ensuring safety and security, dignity and self-reliance of women. Through Mission Shakti, the Govt has shown its intentions and not only vowed zero tolerance to crime but also exhorted the 24 crore population of the state to do the same and step to assume responsibility.

It is possible for each individual, unlike the proverbial three monkeys, to now decide that he will speak up against harassment of women, not close his eyes to apparent violence and should he hear of any such crime being perpetrated by any person, will take responsibility to report it. No bystander is innocent when a crime against a woman is being committed. Being passive is no longer acceptable. It is a shared responsibility and together we can make Uttar Pradesh safe for any woman to move freely by any mode, wearing whatever she chooses to, at any time of day or night, with whoever she chooses to be with, or alone, without fear, or apprehension of any assault on her person, choice, dignity or freedom. I believe it is possible as I can see the sincerity with which all departments are putting their best foot forward, to increase awareness, prevent crime, remove gender gaps, smash stereotypes and address and redress grievances.

6. The statistics show that one in two children are survivors of sexual abuse but they never tell anyone about it. How can we protect them?

Create a safe environment at home. For that the police cannot help you. You have to do it yourself. The mindset has to change. Tell your children what is not due to them. Also tell them that what happened to them should not have and it was not due to them that it happened. Support them to come out and talk about what they might be apprehending and address it upfront. No family is more important than the dignity of your own child, whether son or daughter. It is because children are not understood when they feel discomfort in interacting with some particular family members, not believed when they speak up about what they are going through and not supported when the fact comes out in the open and cannot be hidden anymore that this dastardly crime and violation of trust continues to take place. We need to facilitate an environment where we can have honest conversations with our children, whether about good touch, bad touch, good feel, bad feel, puberty, hormonal changes, menstruation, vices, abuse, social ills like dowry, stereotypes, etc. Schools, colleges and social groups need to do the same. This will help address the issue before it actually happens and causes irreversible trauma.

7. People see the police services as a male dominated profession and hence there begins the gender stereotyping. How much has changed since you joined the Police Force?

Much has changed but much more needs to be changed. When I joined there were much fewer women in the police services and we had to initially work harder to justify that we were worth the service we had chosen. In time, one’s work speaks for itself.

I came into the much acclaimed man’s world of policing 31 years ago. A world where bullet proof vests and body protectors are made for flat chested individuals, barracks presuppose that concepts of privacy for men and women personnel do not differ, a world where a policewoman does not drink water for a day before a law and order duty because there is no place to relieve herself while on duty, where women who do not form part of the boys clubs, are uncomfortable to be around, where toughness means male and sensitivity means female, where if a woman is assertive she is seen as aggressive and so on. Looking back, the journey was interesting, challenging, tempered with highs and lows, but also extremely satisfying. Yes, there is scope for improvement.

I did a detailed study on ‘Creating a gender sensitive and gender friendly infrastructure ‘for the National Conference for Women Police and presented it before policewomen and men from all over the country. This was documented and given as a set of recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The issues raised were then taken up in Parliament and soon enough the recommendations of the report were sent to all organisations for compliance. More recently, with the approval of the DGP UP,  I did an extensive exercise in UP called Manthan to gauge the gender sensitivity within the organization. We will soon take it to its logical conclusion and make action plans to implement over the years to come. Charity begins at home and unless we are able to find the sensitivity in us to create a gender friendly and equitable workplace within our organization, expecting our police personnel to be sensitive to women in society who look to us for succour, would remain a pipedream. So this gender based cleansing of workspace is imperative, whether within the police or within our families and corporate workspaces. A few years down the line, we should see a change in procurement patterns as well as encounter heightened sensitivity to the need to provide equitable opportunities for growth to both women and men. In times to come, the Forces will not only be manpower ready but also woman power ready and I am fortunate to have had a role to play in it. I have been spreading the word and sensitizing police officers to sit up and take notice to the necessity of creating an equitable and gender sensitive environment within the police by taking sessions on the topic in the National Police Academy at senior courses, BPRD as well as with State Police organisations.

8. There is immense pressure from media and citizens on the police, how do you and your team keep your composure while solving the cases? Did that ever seem to have an effect on the investigation?

Respond. Don’t react. The media have a job to do too. To prevent them from interfering and going overboard, boundaries have to be set, legal, administrative as well as functional. The next step is to ensure a constant stream of information to the extent that does not interfere with investigation and appointing a designated spokesperson who can officially and responsibly handle queries and concerns, helps. We need to treat the media as stakeholders and engage in discussions to ensure that together we can serve society and uphold the safety, dignity and self-reliance of women and not devalue them by irresponsible reporting. We also need to train media to focus on the perpetrator and not the victim. The headlines must change from “20 year old woman raped” to “60 year old man accused of rape”

The woman gets judged even if the crime is against her. The perpetrator is protected regardless of what he does. Media needs gender sensitization too. If male journalists feel that they are incapable of being sensitized then maybe they need to give way to women journalists who, I’m sure, stereotyped men already believe, are born sensitive.

Sensitivity, to set the record straight is an acquired skill. It is acquired through socialization, stereotyping, training, presumptions and skill development through hands on practice. It is not a trait one is born with. There will always  be sensitive men and insensitive women.

9. Usually the depiction of police force on-screen is either to show them as larger-than-life “Singham” types or showing them as corrupt officials. What is the reality?

Like I said, form your opinions based on what you have experienced and not what others have told you or you have seen in movies and media. Even police officers are in danger of believing that Singham like behavior or Robin Hood kind of actions are justified because public accolades follow. Accolades or brickbats, our work as police officers is to uphold the rule of law. What follows is inevitable. Take it with restraint. The reality is that there is an unhealthy mix of both kinds in every profession because it only reflects the society we live in. However corruption is never justified and so must be condemned and uprooted to ensure that there is absolutely no impurity in the service we provide to the common man. As for Singhams, projecting oneself in order to instill a sense of security in the common man is not a bad thing but doing it at the cost of the rule of law or human dignity or even violating the law, is a crime and cannot be justified even if the public loves the visual. Movies can only project extremes so as to make their movie sale worthy, so Singham and corruption are the two extremes that obviously sell. Until the lion learns how to speak, the tale of the hunter will always be told. 

10. What were the challenges you faced as a women in your career and what helped you get over them?

To be honest, there have been very few occasions in my career that I have thought of myself as a lady officer. The work I have done reflects my ethos as an IPS Officer, not as a lady IPS officer. I feel happy in knowing that the respect I have gained is purely attributable to the hard work I have put in and the quality I have endeavoured to produce.

I would rather reflect on the learnings that I have had from my experiences as a lady IPS officer and dedicate myself to putting these learning to good use in increasing awareness among others who might not be able to speak up so as to enable a better experience for my sisters and brothers in service.

I have spoken about my experiences in my talks including the one with Business World only so that those listening can gain from something they might resonate with if they have had the same experiences and have not had the courage to speak up and those thinking in the same way as the ones I spoke about might realize what it looks like and stop subjecting the women in their workplaces to such stereotyping and reactions.

11. You are an inspiration to many. Who is your inspiration?

I draw inspiration as I go along, every day, from everyone, younger or older, junior or senior, male or female, from things that people do, higher thoughts, words and actions. I have two hashtags that I use on my Twitter often #MyInspirationForToday and #MyLearningForTodaywhere I share who or what inspired me on that day, or what I learnt from something I saw or read. I cannot bring myself to restrict my inspiration to any one person. The smile on the face of the person who comes to me for help, inspires me to help the next one that comes along.